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Texas republicans court order democrats home { August 7 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3241791 http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3241791 Texas Republicans Ask Court to Order Democrats Home Thu August 7, 2003 07:44 PM ET By Jeff Franks HOUSTON (Reuters) - Texas Republican leaders asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to order 11 Democratic senators back from New Mexico, where they fled last month to stop a plan to add Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Democrats, in turn, filed a lawsuit to prohibit the Republicans from having them arrested if they return to Texas, as an 11-day-old political stalemate turned into a legal battle. At issue is a Republican plan to redraw congressional districts that could increase the narrow Republican majority in the House by up to seven seats. It is being pushed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and the White House. The legislature traditionally redraws congressional maps after the U.S. census every 10 years. It was last done in 2001 by federal judges after the legislature failed to agree on a plan. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst told reporters in Austin, the state capital, he and Gov. Rick Perry filed a "writ of mandamus" with the Texas Supreme Court seeking the senators' return. "It will order their return and provide sanctions if they don't return," said Dewhurst, who, like Perry, is a Republican. The motion said the Texas Constitution mandates their attendance at a legislative session. The Democrats fled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on July 28 to break quorum in the Republican-controlled state Senate to prevent a vote on redistricting, which is done by the state legislature. They have vowed to stay away, out of reach of Texas police, as long as necessary. Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives did the same thing in May, fleeing to Ardmore, Oklahoma, to stop the plan. Perry has since called two special legislative sessions to try force the redistricting plan through. The proposal likely would result in the election of 22 Republicans and 10 Democrats to Congress, instead of the state's current 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans, officials say. The Democrats' lawsuit, filed in an Austin court, seeks to prevent their arrest in Texas and also charges that Perry had no right to call a special session for redistricting. The Democrats say the Texas Constitution permits a special session only for "extraordinary occasions," and this is not one.

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