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In reply to the discussion: Texas Could Vote to Secede From U.S. in 2023 as GOP Pushes for Referendum [View all]RipVanWinkle
(228 posts)From: https://sites.law.duq.edu/juris/2012/12/11/can-a-state-legally-secede-from-the-united-states/
At the culmination of the Civil War, the United States Supreme Court decided Texas v. White, which started as a dispute over bonds issued in Texas during the war. Texas attempted to leave the United States when it supported the Confederacy, where it supplied troops to fight with the rebel forces. The United States Supreme Court established a new constitutional principle in Texas v. White, holding that states cannot unilaterally secede.
Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase stated: When Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the state. The Act, which consummated her admission into the Union, was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final.
If it doesnt seem hard enough to secede, some constitutional scholars say that secession could be considered treason under the Articles of the Constitution. In an article for the Kansas City Star, Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, discussed the Supremacy Clause in Article 6 of the United States Constitution.
What the Constitution says repeatedly is once youre in (as a state), youre in. If people want to secede, they are allowed to leave; they just cant take the land and the water with them. There is a lawful way to secede its called emigration. They can move to Canada, Amar wrote.
From: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-6/
Article VI
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
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The Supreme Court court could theoretically re-interpret Article 6 of the Constitution and reverse Texas vs. White to allow secession.