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Yes. From 1776 to 1996, the US Federal Government accepted as married anyone who was legally married under the laws of any state. They only time the federal government encroached upon states' marriage laws was on June 12, 1967, when the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that state laws prohibiting interracial marriages were unconstitutional. Even when marriages between interracial couples were legal in some states and criminalized in other states, the federal government still recognized the marriage of any couple whose marriage was legal in the state they were living in.

On September 21, 1996, then President Bill Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA"), which essentially said two things. First, the federal government was prohibited from recognizing any marriage between persons of the same sex. Second, states are permitted to violate the full-faith-and-credit clause of the US Constitution and refuse to recognize marriages performed in other states, but only if the reason was because they were between two persons of the same sex. (Other than this exception, states are required by the US Constitution to recognize each others' marriages.)

UPDATE: On June 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA saying it was unconstitutional. This is the section that prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriages. The Court said it was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause and motivated solely by animus against gays and lesbians.

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Q: In the US do same-sex marriage laws fall within the reserved powers of the states?
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Related questions

Reserved powers are those powers reserved for?

Reserved powers are those powers reserved for not reserved for- but granted to the states. The definition of reserved powers: All powers not expressed in the Constitution are granted to the states and called reserved powers.


What powers are set aside for the people or states?

Reserved powers are the powers set aside for the states or people.


What is powers belong to the states?

Establish local governmentsIssue licenses (driver, hunting, marriage, etc.)Regulate intrastate (within the state) commerceConduct electionsRatify amendments to the U.S.


What are powers granted to granted to the states called?

Reserved powers


The reserved powers belong to who?

Reserved powers belong to the states. Reserved powers are the powers that are not granted to the National Government by the Constitution and they are not denied to the states.


What powers to the constitution give to the states only?

reserved powers


What are the restrictive powers?

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.C. RESERVED POWERS


What are restricted powers?

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.C. RESERVED POWERS


What are the delegated concurrent and reserved powers and what are examples of each of them.?

Delegated powers are powers the government has. One example of a delegated power is making peace treaties. Reserved powers are powers states have. One example of a reserved power is laws concerning marriage. Concurrent powers are powers the Government and the state have together. One example of this is public schools.


What are The powers that remain with the states after other powers were delegated to the national government by the Constitution?

Reserved Powers


What powers does the constitution give to states but not to the federal government?

Reserves


Who has reserved powers?

The People, or the States.