Originally Posted by
linusrichard
I don't disagree that marriage is a public act, although I'm not sure whether it's a public act within the meaning of the Full Faith and Credit Clause (I lean toward thinking it is). But I remain unconvinced that marriage is a contract in any true sense, even if a state statute contains a recitation that it is a contract. It just is too unlike a contract on any but the most superficial level.
It involves property rights, as anyone who's had a divorce can tell you. In that it is a voluntary agreement which addresses property rights, it's a contract.