LAWLESSNESS: Texas Dem Judge Signs Order to Block Arrests of Fugitive Dems Who Return to Texas

A Democrat state district judge in Austin, Texas has granted a temporary restraining order blocking the arrests of the House Democrats who fled the state to Washington D.C. to avoid a vote on a voter integrity bill.

The order paves the way for those who remain outside of Texas to return home without threat of arrest and was signed late Sunday night by State District Judge Brad Urrutia.

The ruling restricts Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan from “detaining, confining or otherwise restricting” the free movement of House Democrats within the state or issuing any warrants ordering their confinement.

Unless extended by Urrutia, the ruling expires in 14 days and the court will hear arguments on a temporary injunction on Aug. 20 where Abbott and Phelan must show why a temporary injunction should not be filed against them.

NBC News reported that the Democrats have started to head home this weekend, after securing a “legal win” today that may allow them to return to the state and still obstruct the legislation.

From NBC News:

Of the 57 Democrats who traveled to Washington and used their physical absence to paralyze the state Legislature, about 26 remain, state Rep. Ron Reynolds told NBC News on Sunday night — not enough to deny Republicans of their needed quorum in Austin. The remaining lawmakers plan to continue lobbying for federal voting legislation, even as the House has already adjourned for recess and the Senate is expected to follow them home within days.

The rest — who had been in D.C. for nearly a month — quietly left on commercial flights or by car, a source familiar with the matter said. Their return might have made make it possible for Republicans to move ahead this week — but the majority party still needed find a way to pull Democrats back into the chamber since the special session that began on Saturday lacked enough members for a quorum.

“We don’t believe there’s any legal authority for DPS [Department of Public Safety] or other legal offices to serve any type of warrant or arrest in any way,” said state Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat, told NBC News.

The caucus’ first attempt to block arrests faltered over the weekend. On Friday, The Texas Tribune reported that a lawsuit filed in federal court by 22 of the Texas Democrats against Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans was soon disavowed by two members. A source familiar with the matter said the filing was a draft submitted in error.

The legal challenges are the latest twist after 50 Democratic members of the state House of Representatives fled to Washington on July 12 on private chartered jets, vowing to use their time waiting out the clock on the Texas special legislative session to fight for federal voting legislation.

They enjoyed days of media attention, meetings with senators and representatives, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, before six fully vaccinated members tested positive for Covid-19. The breakthrough infections spread to at least one aide to the Texas caucus, an aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a White House staffer, while forcing the Texas Democrats to host much of their advocacy events and meetings on Zoom.

Congress soon turned its attention to hammering out a bipartisan infrastructure deal, leaving many of the Texas Democrats frustrated at the lack of federal lawmaking on their issue.

The Texas lawmakers failed to secure a meeting with a single Republican member of Congress — the cohort that is holding up their legislation and would need to be persuaded.

The Texas Democrats drew more than 100 legislators from other states to a rally, but was overshadowed when it ended up taking place simultaneously with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s response to the allegations that he sexually harassed women while serving as governor.

While some Senate Democrats have said they want to push a voting bill ahead in the chamber, there’s no clear path for its passage without gaining Republican support.

Still, the Texas Democrats argue they’ve kept the issue top of mind for a month.

“There’s a lot of momentum that’s been really sparked by our quorum break,” Reynolds said. “There has not been an idle day. We’ve utilized every single day to make some progress.”