Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on Thursday demanding that an Illinois court enforce the Republican-issued arrest warrants against Democrats who left the Lone Star State to break quorum.
The suit was filed against nearly three dozen Texas House Democrats who traveled to Illinois in order to avoid returning to the special legislative session ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX). Their exodus is part of an effort to oppose the Republican-led middecade redistricting efforts in Texas.
Paxton accused the absent lawmakers of “harming the good order of Texas’s representative democracy” by breaking quorum and refusing to return to the Texas Capitol in Austin.
“This court must give full faith and credit to warrants duly issued by the Texas House of Representatives that compel these civil servants to return to Texas and to their civic responsibilities,” the 16-page court filing states, referring to the Constitution’s full faith and credit clause. “They do not have the right to deny the voices and votes of other members by withholding their own.”
The constitutional clause typically requires states to honor other states’ public acts, records, and judicial proceedings, but it’s possible the Illinois court could reject the request.
In response to the petition, state Democratic Rep. John Bucy III, on behalf of his colleagues, criticized Paxton and state GOP House Speaker Dustin Burrows for seeking their arrests.
“It’s now more clear than ever that Republicans are scared. They’re scared of the voters. They’re scared of being held accountable,” Bucy, the first defendant in the lawsuit, said. “And they’re scared that Texas Democrats are united in our resolve to defeat Trump’s power grab and protect our democracy, our constitution, and our country.”
“If defending democracy is a crime, I’m proud to be an outlaw,” he added.
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Burrows held a vote on Monday to issue the civil arrest warrants, which Paxton dubbed the “quorum warrants,” ordering the Texas Democrats to return by Friday. The special session is scheduled to end no later than Aug. 20. If the state lawmakers refuse to comply, federal and state law enforcement are prepared to locate and arrest them.
Thursday’s suit was filed in Adams County, Illinois, a Republican-dominated, rural part of the blue state. The county voted for President Donald Trump last fall by 47 percentage points more than former Vice President Kamala Harris.
