Yesterday, the Texas Supreme Court allowed, at least temporarily, for the arrests of the Texas Democrats who fled their responsibilities for a shameless — and maskless —publicity stunt:
Texas Supreme Court Allows Arrest of Runaway Democrats
Via @KevinDaleyDC https://t.co/kMrWWsQuWp
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 10, 2021
More from the Washington Free Beacon:
The Supreme Court of Texas on Tuesday allowed for the arrest or detention of Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to stop passage of an election reform package they view as an assault on voting rights.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R.) and statehouse speaker Matthew “Dade” Phelan (R.) have threatened to detain the runaway Democrats in the state capitol and force them to discharge their legislative duties once they return from Washington, D.C. On Sunday night a state court judge in Travis County issued an order blocking Abbott, Phelan, and other officials from taking that step. Tuesday’s move by the state supreme court voids the order for the time being.
“The Supreme Court of Texas swiftly rejected this dangerous attempt by Texas Democrats to undermine our Constitution and avoid doing the job they were elected to do,” Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said. “We look forward to the Supreme Court upholding the rule of law and stopping another stall tactic by the Texas Democrats.”
Texas GOP House Speaker Dade Phelan subsequently signed arrest warrants for 52 delinquent Democratic state representatives.
NEW: The Texas House Speaker has signed civil arrest warrants for 52 Democratic lawmakers who fled the state last month to block a GOP effort to pass voting restrictions, per the Dallas Morning News
https://t.co/dyWGqOUj7f— Axios (@axios) August 11, 2021
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More from Axios:
The GOP-led Texas House of Representatives voted 80-12 in favor of the move, hours after the state Supreme Court temporarily blocked a restraining order by a lower court protecting the Democrats.
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It means that those among the group who have returned to Texas can be detained and forcibly returned to the state Capitol to reestablish quorum, the Texas Tribune notes.
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The court have the Democrats until 4pm Thursday to respond to the ruling.
In light of this news, it seems like a good time to revisit PolitiFact’s own ruling on the matter, issued last month after GOP Sen. Ted Cruz said that “There is clear legal authority to handcuff and put in leg irons legislators that are trying to stop the legislature from being able to do business.”
.@SenTedCruz said "there is clear legal authority to handcuff and put in leg irons legislators that are trying to stop the legislature from being able to do business." False. There is no legal clarity. https://t.co/E5TnK9KOQG pic.twitter.com/dxBk9obLR1
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) July 16, 2021
Here’s what PolitiFact concluded at the time:
Cruz said that there is “clear legal authority to handcuff and put in leg irons legislators” who break quorum.
The Texas House Rules states that absent lawmakers can “be sent for and arrested, wherever they may be found.” But, because absent lawmakers aren’t charged with a crime, it’s unclear how the use of the word “arrest” should be interpreted in this context. This is because no Texas court has reviewed how this provision is to be enforced. Thus, there is no legal clarity.
We rate this claim False.
Well, PolitiFact’s own claim was false then. And it’s still false now.
Ted Cruz is the former Solicitor General of Texas, but hey I’m sure the Politifact writer who spent 90 minutes researching this knows Texas law better than he does. https://t.co/XpXu0fSCYD
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) August 10, 2021
Cruz was understandably irritated by PolitiFact’s ruling last month, and in light of recent events, he’s even more annoyed:
Yep. The Texas Supreme Court just agreed with me—unanimously.
But, of course, PolitiFact still rules the claim “false.”
They have yet to issue a correction. https://t.co/TavqAguOwl
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 11, 2021
We wouldn’t hold our breath if we were you, Senator.
Gotta give the devil his due: Ted Cruz actually knows TX state law, for some obvious damn reasons, and he was right about this. Politifact, meanwhile put some young hire on the topic who did an afternoon of superficial research and ruled it false. Unanimous verdict in favor. https://t.co/7g7YBw60TB
— Jeff B. tried to do his best, but he could not (@EsotericCD) August 11, 2021
My disdain for Cruz is legendary — hell, I have a friend who was his former Chief of Staff and he used to give me crap about it whenever we met up — so you have no idea what it takes for me to get up off the bench and defend him.
— Jeff B. tried to do his best, but he could not (@EsotericCD) August 11, 2021
I interviewed Cruz when he was SG before he was in the senate… and say what you want, the guy knows the legal stuff.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) August 11, 2021
When Ted Cruz is right, Ted Cruz is right.
And when PolitiFact is wrong … it’s a day ending in “y.”
Politifact is trash, a continuing series https://t.co/P2luvd5WYP
— Michael Watson (@MichaelWatsonDC) August 11, 2021
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