Be careful signing that secession petition

The following is a contribution and preparation post only and not to be deemed as an original opinion.

I am currently working on a piece for my paper on the topic of  the current "post election" secession petitions which are being completed and signed and placed innocently on the White House server.  Wow, it is hard to believe people can be so naive.

My colleague and writer friend Michelle Travis (over on Hub Pages), wrote a simple but most excellent article on the topic titled, Can States Secede From The United States Of America?  It contains interesting information, opinion and comments on this subject. I invite your attention and direction to this article.

In preparing for my own article, I discovered a few things many might be surprised to know: All 50 states have signed petitions requesting "Peaceful secession" from the United States.

Although that might sound good to some, as reported in the Blaze, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia recently weighed in  on the subject previously and pointed out that: 

" the answer is clear. If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, “one Nation, indivisible.”) Secondly, I find it difficult to envision who the parties to this lawsuit might be. Is the State suing the United States for a declaratory judgment? But the United States cannot be sued without its consent, and it has not consented to this sort of suit." 

He went on to say that the Supreme Court would ultimately have to agree to even hear such a suit and it is highly unlikely that the Supreme court would even agree to hear the case or rule upon it. As such although in principal and (at least implied) based on many of the words of our founding fathers we have the right of "Peaceful secession" from the Union (as Michele correctly states in her article), the reality is that the only practical way of secession would be the same path as that which our founders ultimately had to take; REVOLUTION. In short, there is NO Peaceful Right of Secession. 

One last word, with the current administration in power, citizens might want to think twice before signing such a petition; it might come back to haunt you.

More coming soon in my column on the Examiner.com.

© 2012 Dr. Lee W. Outlaw III