The Full Faith and Credit Clause requires states to enforce judgments from other states'' courts, preventing losing parties from relitigating the same case in a different state hoping for a better outcome. This principle applies to divorce decrees, child custody orders, monetary judgments, and other court rulings. States must give out-of-state judgments the same conclusive effect they would have in the issuing state, barring exceptional circumstances like jurisdictional defects.
Article IV, Section 1 establishes that each state must give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. For judicial proceedings specifically, this means a valid judgment from one state''s courts must be recognized and enforced by other states, even if the enforcing state disagrees with the outcome. The only exception is when the original court lacked jurisdiction to enter the judgment. Courts presume the issuing court had proper jurisdiction unless the record clearly shows otherwise. Congress has authority to prescribe how states should prove and give effect to these judicial proceedings. This constitutional requirement prevents forum shopping and ensures the finality of court judgments, while maintaining a unified legal system across state boundaries despite differing state laws.