Is Succession the Way Forward?
By Ethan Hay
“Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the Constitution.” Chairman of the Texas state GOP, Allen B. West said this shortly after the Supreme Court of the United States dismissed a case brought by the Lone Star states Attorney General Ken Paxton challenging the election results in the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Texas has always had an independent spirit, it was even once its own country, and even though the state has not attempted to secede since the civil war, there has always been a small group of people who have advocated for a return to an independent nation, such as the Texas Nationalist Movement. But after the divisive 2020 election, some people like radio talk show legend Rush Limbaugh have even said that the US is ‘trending toward secession.’
While he was not advocating for it, there has been a noticeable increase in talk about the potential for secession that is being heard across the country not only in Texas, in which a state representative has introduced a bill to have a referendum on the ballot in the near future for that express purpose, but also in Wyoming, and Weld county in Colorado, which is seeking to break away from Colorado to become a part of Wyoming.
A group called the Alliance of Patriotic States, has begun to reach out to states that are predominantly more conservative leaning to break away from the US, due to a variety of reasons, which are summarized below:
- The false statistics being given to the public by the government, and the prevention of businesses being opened as a side effect.
- Unconstitutional changes to election laws in the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia. Along with dismissals of lawsuits and evidence regarding the election.
- The continual support for Roe V Wade by the supreme court.
- The continuation of the Patriot act.
- The Biden administrations plan to legalize millions of legal immigrants.
- The blatant abuse of power by social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., and their censorship of non-liberal channels.
- The NAFTA trade deal and other such poor trade deals have left millions of Americans in dire straits.
- The United States government refusal to step in and prevent rioting, which as a result led to the destruction of businesses, and millions of dollars to property.
The predominant reason is that there feels there is no longer the ability or will to coexist among conservative and liberals.
However, there is the legality of the issue that begs the question; can states secede from the United States? In the Supreme court case Texas v White, and that any such acts by state legislatures, referendums, etc., are ‘absolutely null,’ and even conservative Supreme court justice Antonin Scalia has said ‘there is no right to secede.’ Does that mean that secession is not possible? No, it is, the problem, however, is that any attempt of actual secession has the potential for starting a conflict that could erupt into to violence, much like the Civil war.
Sources:
- https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/dec/11/allen-west-floats-secession-after-supreme-court- re/
- https://www.newsweek.com/kyle-biedermann-texas-state-rep-who-marched-capitol-introduces-bill- secede-union-1565159
- https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/20/nation/inspired-by-some-texas-far-right-wyoming-gop-chair- floats-secession-wake-capitol-siege/
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/28/colorado-weld-county-wyoming-secession/ 4304239001/
- https://allianceofpatrioticstates.org/
- https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/state-of-utah-declaration-of-independence 7 https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/74/700
- https://www.businessinsider.com/justice-scalias-views-on-secession-2012-11