As a protest is held outside of the Texas State Capitol on May 29, 2021, Austin, Texas Photo: Sergio Flores/Getty ImagesTexas Supreme Court ruled in favor of arresting Democratic legislators who skipped the second special legislative session.The lawmakers who are arrested will not face charges for a crime. Instead, they will be brought to Capitol to establish quorum.A district judge had previously blocked legislators from being held without trial.Check out more stories from Insider's business page.According to a Texas Supreme Court ruling, police now have the power to arrest Democratic Texas legislators who violate quorum.In order to ensure quorum and the vote on legislation, officers from the Department of Public Safety can now detain and turn away missing members of the House chamber.In July, fifty-seven state Democratic legislators left Texas to stop a Republican election bill that would have restricted voting rights. Most of the group went to Washington, DC in order to assist federal legislators with passing a national vote rights bill.The temporary restraining order issued by District Judge Brad Urrutia stopped authorities from arresting any truant legislators. It was in effect for 14 days. This led to Gov. Greg Abbott and Republican House Leader Rep. Dade Phelan petitioned the state Supreme Court to stop the ruling.At the start of Gov. Greg Abbott's first session of special legislative sessions, which requires all House members to be present in the House chamber. It also allows authorities to detain and bring missing legislators to the Capitol.Even with the "Call of the House” motion, police couldn't pursue the missing legislators in Washington DC because they weren't under the jurisdiction of any Texas police department. However, some of the state legislators have returned from Washington DC to Texas and are still trying to avoid the Capitol in order to maintain a brokenquorum.Continue the storyAccording to court ruling, authorities can now compel them to return to the chamber once they are back. The sergeant at arms can be compelled to lock the chamber by a "Call of the House", which will prevent members from fleeing.To establish a quorum in Texas, the House of Representatives must have a two-thirds majority. The House currently has 67 Democrats and only 82 Republicans. This means that at least 18 Democrats must be present in order to establish a majority. If every Republican legislator is also present, the House will not have a quorum.Abbott's second special legislative session started on August 7. Similar to the first session's agenda, the second special session's includes a variety of right-wing causes.Schools are prohibited from mandating COVID-19 face coverings or vaccinations.Some criminals may be subject to a restriction on bail.People banned from email and social media platforms by "censorship" are eligible for legal recourse.Transgender athletes are not allowed to participate in teams that correspond with their gender identity.Schools should be prohibited from teaching "critical race theory".Business Insider has the original article.
