{"id":164059,"date":"2016-06-25T17:02:31","date_gmt":"2016-06-25T23:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=164059"},"modified":"2016-06-25T17:02:31","modified_gmt":"2016-06-25T23:02:31","slug":"texplainer-if-brexit-can-happen-can-texit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/06\/texplainer-if-brexit-can-happen-can-texit\/","title":{"rendered":"Texplainer: If Brexit Can Happen, Can Texit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey, Texplainer: Britain voted to leave the European Union. Can Texas secede from the United States?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the wake of Britain\u2019s historic vote to leave the European Union \u2014 nicknamed the “Brexit” \u2014 speculation of a Texit on the horizon has cropped up once again. The secessionist movement has a long history in the\u00a0<\/strong>Lone Star State. Delegates for the Texas Republican Party even recently debated\u00a0adding secessionist language to the party’s platform<\/a>. But\u00a0is it actually legal for Texas to leave the United States?<\/p>\n

\"Texas\"

Jacob Villanueva \/ The Texas Tribune<\/p>

\u201cIf there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede.\u201d — Antonin Scalia, late Supreme Court Justice<\/p><\/div>\n

Simply put, the answer is no. Historical and legal precedents make it clear that Texas could not pull off a Texit \u2014 at least not legally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legality of seceding is problematic,\u201d said Eric McDaniel, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. \u201cThe Civil War played a very big role in establishing the power of the federal government and cementing that the federal government has the final say in these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many historians believe\u00a0that when the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox in 1865, the idea of secession was also defeated, according to McDaniel. The Union\u2019s victory set a precedent that states could not legally secede.<\/p>\n

It is also important to note that the European Union is a loose association of compound states with pre-existing protocols for a nation to exit. In contrast, the U.S. Constitution contains procedures for admitting new states into the nation, but none for a state to leave.<\/p>\n

Yet the myth that Texas can easily\u00a0<\/strong>secede persists, in part, because of the state\u2019s history of independence.<\/p>\n