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Neither. At a practical level, the law is not that which is written down, but what is enforced. The Confederate states may have had good textual arguments why

Neither. At a practical level, the law is not that which is written down, but what is enforced. The Confederate states may have had good textual arguments why it was legal for them to secede from the US. However, they were conquered. Their claims were ultimately meaningless because they could not defend themselves. In the intervening years, the federal government has only gotten stronger. See this [1] discussion of the Little Rock Nine - particularly around the use of the National Guard as an example. At a practical level, I don't think anything will come of this, but only because California isn't trying to exercise sovereign power. ___ 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Nine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Nine

drdeca 7y ago
I didn’t think the question was whether it was legal for California to defy federal laws or actually secede (which of course it wouldn’t be illegal ), but rather whether the official making the claim in words (but not actions) that California is a “nation state” was legal
- nordsieck 7y ago
  > whether the official making the claim in words (but not actions) that California is a “nation state” was legal IANAL I have to imagine it is. The first amendment is quite broad. As long as no one is urging people to take concrete steps (e.g. don't pay federal income tax) I think pretty much anything is on the table.