Full Faith and Credit
Definition
The enforcement by one state of another state’s laws or legal decisions. The Full Faith and Credit Clause of Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution requires states to recognize and enforce the legal acts, records, and proceedings of other states. The full-faith-and-credit statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1738, implements the Full Faith and Credit Clause and provides that state court decisions have the same full faith and credit in all U.S. courts as they have in the state courts where they were decided.