Will Texas secession from the United States be legal?

Rumor has been rife since the beginning of the Trump era of the possibility of a Texas secession from the United States of America.

But the question begs asking, would the state of Texas secession be legally grounded should legislators decide to head for that path?. Well history tells us it wouldn’t be the first time since the formation of the Union that Texas has tried to back out of it.

In 1861, a Texas state convention voted in favor of Texas secession from the Union, a decision upheld by a popular vote, making Texas the 7th state to make that move. In 1870, Texas was readmitted into the Union following the end of the civil war.

The Law on Texas secession

Can Texas secede from the United States legally? The simple answer is NO!. Eric McDaniel, an associate professor of government at the UOT, Austin succinctly put it, ” The civil war cemented the power of the federal government, giving it the power to have the final say in these issues (state secession)”.

Late supreme court Justice, Antonin Scalia also summarized the law regarding states secession in a profound statement, “If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede.”

Judicial Precedence on Legality of State Secession in US

Remember the Texas secession in 1861?, a landmark case of Texas v. white in 1869 just before Texas was readmitted into the Union, the Court presided by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase  ruled that individual states could not on their own accord decide to leave the union even if the it has the support of  majority citizens of the state, therefore pronouncing that the Texas secession of 1861 was, “absolutely null.”

So there you have it. Unlike the European Union which has clear statutes of how member states can leave the Union, the United states doesn’t so the United States will remain united forever, legally.

Source: Guidelinelaw.com