Scotland potential breakaway sparks call for reorganization

“State secession

Some states have movements which see secession from the United States itself and the formation of a nation from one or more states.

§  Alaska: In November 2006, the Alaska Supreme Court held in the case Kohlhaas v. State that secession was illegal, and refused to permit an initiative to be presented to the people of Alaska for a vote. The Alaskan Independence Party remains a factor in state politics.[citation needed]

§  Florida: The mock 1982 secessionist protest[citation needed] by the Conch Republic in the Florida Keys resulted in an ongoing source of local pride and tourist amusement.

§  Georgia: On April 1, 2009, the Georgia State Senate passed a resolution 43-1 that affirmed the right of states to nullify federal laws. The resolution also included the assertion that if Congress took certain steps, including restricting firearms or ammunition, the United States government would cease to exist.[80]

§  Hawaii: The Hawaiian sovereignty movement has a number of active groups that have won some concessions from the state of Hawaii, including the offering of H.R. 258 in March 2011 which removes the words "Treaty of Annexation" from a statue. It has passed a committee recommendation 6-0 thus far.[81]

§  League of the South: The group seeks "a free and independent Southern republic"[82] made up of the former Confederacy.[83] It operated a short lived Southern Party supporting the right of states to secede from the Union or to legally nullify federal laws.[84]Some describe these movements as neo-confederate.

§  With the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States to hear District of Columbia v. Heller in late 2007, an early 2008 movement began in Montana involving at least 60 elected officials addressing potential secession if the Second Amendmentwere interpreted not to grant an individual right, citing its compact with the United States of America.[85]

§  South Carolina: In May 2010 a group was formed calling itself the Third Palmetto Republic, a reference to the fact that the state claimed to be an independent republic twice before in its history: Once in 1776 and again in 1860. The group was modeled after the Second Vermont Republic and says its aims are for a free and independent South Carolina, and to abstain from any further federations.

§  Texas Secession Movement: The group Republic of Texas generated national publicity for its controversial actions in the late 1990s.[86] A small group still meets.[87] In April 2009, Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, raised the issue of secession in disputed comments during a speech at a Tea Party protest saying "Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that...My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that."[88][89][90][91]

§  Vermont: The Second Vermont Republic, founded in 2003, is a loose network of several groups which describes itself as "a nonviolent citizens' network and think tank opposed to the tyranny of Corporate America and the U.S. government, and committed to the peaceful return of Vermont to its status as an independent republic and more broadly the dissolution of the Union."[92][93] Its "primary objective is to extricate Vermont peacefully from the United States as soon as possible.”[94] They have worked closely with the Middlebury Institute created from a meeting sponsored in Vermont in 2004.[95][96] On October 28, 2005, activists held the Vermont Independence Conference, “the first statewide convention on secession in the United States since North Carolina voted to secede from the Union on May 20, 1861.”[94] They also participated in the 2006 and 2007 Middlebury-organized national secessionist meetings which brought delegates from over a dozen groups.[97][98][99]

§  Republic of Lakotah: Some members of the Lakota people of Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota created the Republic to assert the independence of a nation that was always sovereign and did not willingly join the United States; therefore they do not consider themselves technically to be secessionists.[100]”

“LONDON — It is the nation that once ran the largest empire the world has ever known, a country so powerful that it claimed to "rule the waves" in a patriotic anthem.

But last month a "political tsunami" struck the United Kingdom and this once-mighty state faces being broken up.

An astonishing victory for nationalists in the Scottish parliamentary elections means it is almost certain that a referendum will be held within five years on whether Scotland should leave the U.K. and become an independent country.”

“Carwyn Jones calls for 'radical' constitutional rethink if Scotland leaves UK

Wales' First Minister Carwyn Jones says radical changes will be needed to stop English MPs dominating Parliament if Scotland breaks away from the UK.

He said the House of Commons would need to be balanced by a new upper house with equal representation from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mr Jones said the system could be based on the Senate in the United States.

Speaking at the British-Irish Council in Dublin he said he would very much regret seeing Scotland leave the union.

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“Start Quote

There would need to be a fundamental rethink of the nature of the relationship between the three nations left within the UK”

Carwyn JonesWales' First Minister

In response to a question about what would happen if Scotland left the UK Mr Jones told journalists: "It certainly couldn't carry on as it is now.

"You can't just take Scotland out and expect the UK to continue as before.

"You would have for example, a Parliament in London with about 550 MPs, 510 of whom would be from England. Well that's no good to us at all.

"There would need to be a fundamental rethink of the nature of the relationship between the three nations left within the UK in order to make sure that, what was then the UK, was a stable body where people felt that they had full representation."

Later, speaking to the Guardian newspaper, he said the UK should look at following the example of the US if Scotland did break away.”