North Dakota might not be a state

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They call themselves "commonwealths", and Maryland calls itsself "the Freestate of Maryland", and California calls
itsself "the Republic of California" but they are stil states of the USA.

As is North Dakota. It has had representation in Congress ever since it was admitted to the Union. If Congress says North Dakota is a State it is a State.

ruveyn

From what I read in the article, this issue doesnt stop ND from being a state, it just makes it an illegally operating state. It's always been a state, it's just hasn't been following the rules

That is up to the courts to decide. My guess is that if someone tries to enjoin North Dakota or sue on these purely technical grounds the courts will dismiss the action in under ten minutes flat as being frivilous.

ruveyn

This ^ and I don't think anyone would even try lol is there really any lawyer in the world who would risk destroying their entire reputation by trying to sue N Dakota for not being a state! It's really hilarious when you think about it... kinda...

I think you misunderstand the nature of the legal profession.

The person who can stand up as a lone voice and challenge the opinion of every one of his compatriots is the ideal of the legal profession. Just because everyone believes something to be true does not mean that this something is, in fact, the state of the law.

If the several governors of North Dakota have entered office improperly, then have any of the acts of the North Dakota legislature properly become law? That is not a trivial question.

Consider Reference re Manitoba Language Rights [1985] 1 S.C.R. 721. The Supreme Court of Canada declared that the vast majority of Manitoba legislation was of no force and effect because of a constitutional defect that had become a consistent practice in that jurisdiction. Is the failure to pass french language versions of legislation as required by the Manitoba Act any less of a defect than a governor who has never properly enetered into office? Only the courts are in a position to answer that question definitively.

I'm not saying it couldn't be done (I think it could, should and would be sweeeeeet!), and I agree with your post completely. I was saying that in our society, someone who tried to challenge the statehood of North Dakota, a place we have (albeit mistakenly) known to be a "state" for so long, would instantly become the (for lack of a better term) laughing stock of the law community, I can just hear the headlines now, "Lawyer sues ND for faking statehood" or "Crackpot claims ND not a state".

I'm just saying that someone who challenges something we have known as "fact" and revolved around for our entire lives will not be well received. Like Leon Foucault, who proved the earth rotated by using a pendulum, or Galileo with Copernicanism. These things are true and challenged the then norm but were met with opposition...

And also, it was originally intended as a Joke It's hard enough making jokes in real life, then you add the interwebz and BOOM it all blows up...

Those textbook companies must be drooling right now