比如说2012年的“50个州闹独立”运动,美国50个州的民众到白宫官方网站上签字,请求白宫允许他们的州从联邦中分离出去,并成立新的政府。结果,奥巴马的新闻发言人只是简单做了个回应,对要求独立的请求直接就回绝了。
2013年,又有人向奥巴马政府请愿,结果又被回绝了。
具体的回复内容如下:
The director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, Jon Carson, wrote in his response that free and open debate was good for democracy, but also cited some of the legal arguments against secession, including Texas v. White, an 1869 Supreme Court ruling that found that individual states did not have a right to secede.