Texas Fleebagger Democrats File Lawsuit Against Governor Abbott for Causing Them ‘Distress’
“They also say they have suffered from ‘much discomfort and embarrassment’ because their reputations have been ‘impaired’.”
The Texas Democrats who fled the state weeks ago to avoid a vote on new election laws continue to embarrass themselves and their party.
They’re now trying to sue Governor Greg Abbott for causing them ‘distress’ for threatening to arrest them when they return to the state.
Andrew Court reports at the Daily Mail:
Runaway Texas Democrats file lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott for causing them ‘anxiety and distress’ by threatening to arrest them on their return to the state
Almost two dozen Texas Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C. last month in order to block two ‘restrictive’ voting reform bills proposed by Republicans have now filed a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott.
Abbott – who is Republican – threatened to arrest the lawmakers when they eventually return to the Lone Star state after they packed onto private jets and flew to the nation’s capitol on July 12.
On Friday, 22 of the Democrats filed a complaint in federal court in Austin claiming that Republican attempts to bring them home for a special legislative session is a violation of their rights.
The plaintiffs claim they ‘have been deprived of liberty for substantial periods of time, [and] suffered much anxiety and distress over the separation from their families.
They also say they have suffered from ‘much discomfort and embarrassment’ because their reputations have been ‘impaired’.
In addition to Abbott, GOP House Speaker Dade Phelan and State Rep. James White are also named as defendants in the suit.
This is a problem entirely of their own making.
They seemed so hopeful when they boarded that chartered jet to leave the state.
The rules are for thee not for me.
-Texas DemocratsTexas democrats flew to Washington DC on a plane maskless while the rest of us are still forced to wear masks while flying. This shows that the masks are just political theater and virtue signaling. @LPNH @lpky pic.twitter.com/SgjoFZGj19
— Libertarian Party Waller County (@LPTexasWC) July 15, 2021
They ended up spreading COVID in Washington, DC, and Biden didn’t even meet with them.
The Associated Press reports:
Democrats had hoped to exert pressure on President Joe Biden and Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation, but a Senate Republican filibuster continues to block such a measure.
Democrat Jasmine Crockett, one of the state representatives remaining in Washington, said she would be disappointed if enough of her colleagues returned to give Republicans a quorum next week. She said their group is not “naive” and knows they don’t have the votes to permanently hold off passage of a bill in Texas, but are still hoping for movement in Congress.
“I’m not giving up on anything. I’m not going home until the fat lady sings,” Crockett said.
Biden never met with the Texas Democrats in Washington. The group was quickly forced to change some plans after several of their members tested positive for COVID-19. Reports that two Democrats snuck away to Europe also led to bad headlines and invited mockery from Republicans back home.
This was the political backfire of the year, perhaps more than that.
They ended up accomplishing none of their goals and looking completely ridiculous in the process. They also robbed their party of a carefully crafted narrative about the filibuster.
So. Much. Fail.
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Comments
“They’re now trying to sue Governor Greg Abbott for causing them ‘distress’ for threatening to arrest them when they return to the state”
Just a simple, and simple-minded, variant of the boy who murders both his parents and pleads with the court to show him mercy because he’s now an orphan.
These images made the same point,
https://www.google.com/search?q=you+made+your+bed,+now+lie+in+it+similar+quotes&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ALeKk02fy5ib1rAVyTvvyUxjdb2X1O3t9g:1628433645632&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizwPOH1KHyAhUKd98KHaI_BooQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1290&bih=970
Man, leftists really do hate the concept of personal responsibility.
this. so. much. this. It is the heart and the foundation of their actions, from random joe on the street to the president of the US
Rule #1: your problems are never your own fault. Find someone to blame.
About time the citizens of Texas filed the same suit.
Ha.
“Discomfort and Embarrassment”????????
Brought on by themselves!
Embarrassment… they’re claiming Abbott planted that Miller Lite on them or something?
By running away, didn’t the Democrats resign their positions? They should return any monies received from our state and be replaced in our legislature.
There’s a political cartoon showing the Democrats fleeing the backside of the Alamo. Perfect – they’re cowards!
No, they didn’t. Your claim is just as frivolous as the ones we’re discussing here.
That would take a constitutional amendment.
Actually no Milhouse, there are several bills before the Texas Legislature to do essentially that.
“After weeks of the legislative standstill, Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville) filed a bill that would create a pathway to vacating seats held by truant members.
Under the proposed legislation, if a legislator is absent and unexcused for 14 consecutive days, their seat would be considered vacated and a special election to fill it could be called by the governor.
“If you repeatedly don’t show up for work, you are fired from your job, our offices should be no different,” Middleton said in a release. “Excessive, unexcused absences are certainly a violation of each member’s oath of office and a refusal to do the job the member is elected to do.”
Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) has filed similar legislation but with a shorter time frame of seven days. “
Those bills would be void because they are unconstitutional. The legislature has no power to make laws expelling members of the legislature. Members hold office by right of the constitution, and the only method the constitution provides for getting rid of a member mid-term is expulsion by a 2/3 vote of their chamber, and even that is limited because the chamber cannot expel a member twice for the same offense. Just as the legislature cannot add qualifications to a member beyond what the constitution provides, it can’t add methods of expulsion.
This is basic and obvious.
There is a lot more the legislature (and the Speaker) is perfectly authorized to do, and I suspect will be done.
1 — all who deliberately flee the state to obstruct the sitting of the lose all committee assignments. (Texas House Speaker makes all committee assignments, which is one reason why that is probably the most powerful position in the state.)
2 — all such members lose all seniority for Capitol office assignments and parking spaces. If you know anything about Texas politics and the layout of the Capitol grounds, to the politicians that is a big deal. (Again, such assignments are 100% under the Speaker’s control.)
3 — all such members lose 75% of their staff budget. (Again, the Speaker controls this.). Combine this with (1) (committee staffers do a lot of work for the members, especially if you are a senior member of a committee), and you basically eliminate all professional assistance.
4 — all such members, personally, are fined $10,000 per day of unexcused absense after a quorum call is approved, with a 99% tax levied on all donations used to pay such fines, and a provision making such fines and tax assessments enforceable as a judgment without Texas statutory property exemptions. (The constitutional homestead exemption would remain.) This would require legislation, of course, but would essentially bankrupt all but independently wealthy legislators who decide to try this trick ever again.
1, 2, and 3 are all perfectly possible and reasonable.
4 would be a bill of attainder. The legislature could probably make such a law for future use, but it could not apply retroactively. And I doubt the tax on donations would be constitutional. Under the analysis Roberts cited in NFIB from a 1940s case, setting out the distinction between a tax and a penalty, that would definitely be a penalty, not a tax.
Is this the Babylon Bee? Thanks for the giggle and smile.
Nah. The Babylon Bee is Satire. We’re competing with Not The Bee, for those stories that are so out there they should be satire, but aren’t…
They could always, you know, return to Texas and do their job.
What does Texas law have to say about it? Isn’t the Governor within his rights and duties to arrest them if they refuse to attend the session?
Not exactly. The Gov. doesn’t get to make the call one way or another. It’s actually up to the speaker or speaker pro tempore to sign the (civil) arrest warrants and it’s up to the house Sargent at Arms to enforce. I believe the SaA has the ability to use other law enforcement agencies (DPS, Texas Rangers, etc.) to accomplish the arrest. But, that is only within the borders of the state of Texas.
The way I see it: A guy stands on top of hill facing a 20 mph wind and decides pee into the wind. He latter complains that he smells like stale urine.
Another thought: What is the rule about vacating their elected office?
The rule is the same for Congress, or any other state: a member can resign, or be expelled by 2/3 of their chamber, and that’s it. Absenting themselves from a session does not vacate their seats.
“They also say they have suffered from ‘much discomfort and embarrassment’ because their reputations have been ‘impaired’. “
Two words — John Peter Zenger.
Ok, three.
It’s called “self-awareness”. Look into it.
This is like a person who kills his parents and begs for mercy as he is an orphan. World class stupid!
Adulting is hard. It’s even harder if you’re stupid.
.
Verbing nouns isn’t. :-{)}}}
Gerundizating?
GD children.
I cannot stand these people.
Laugh this out of court quickly
Oh please, you know what’s going to happen. Some liberal ass judge is going to declare that he/she must take the next several months to study the issue before making a decision and will issue a TRO prohibiting the Governor from calling any special legislative session(s) (even though it’s his Constitutional right) or arresting the delinquent legislators for failure to appear at the special session(s) until a final decision on the lawsuit is made. And blah, blah blah nothing will happen for months until the lazy judge gets off their fat ass and makes a decision well after it would have made a difference. Guaranteed.
No, that is not going to happen. The suit will be dismissed for failure to state a claim.
The only real question is whether these people will be hit with sanctions for their frivolous lawsuit. My guess is not, because judges are peculiarly allergic to using those sanctions, with the result that the suits get more and more frivolous.
Given that at least two of the plaintiffs have announced that they did not authorize Craig Washington (counsel for plaintiffs) to file suit on their behalf, and the fact that Washington has a very long history of SBoT disciplinary problems (4 public reprimands, suspended 2017-2020, probated suspension 2020-2024), don’t be too sure. Filing suit — especially a high profile suit like this one — without client authorization is a very big no-no, and so if that turns out to be the case methinks Washington’s license is in serious jeopardy.
Did they file in a TX court? Arrest them when the show up?
They don’t have to show up.
Well, if I represented the defendants, I’d notice the plaintiff’s depositions immediately to get discovery on the factual basis for their TRO / PI claims, and set the depositions to be held in the venue where they filed suit. If they no-show for the depositions, a show cause order likely issues. If they no-show the Show Cause hearing, federal bench warrant can issue, and that IS enforceable outside of Texas.
Of course, once they set foot inside Texas — voluntarily or compelled — then the SaA and the Rangers can arrest them.
Filing this suit was just plain stupid.
“Filing this suit was just plain stupid.”
No doubt an indicator of the intelligence of the plaintiffs.
Additionally, what if the defendants issued trial subpoenas on all plaintiffs to appear at the TRO/preliminary injunction hearing? (Such subpoenas can be served on them outside of Texas, assuming that simple ECF service on their counsel isn’t enough.)
File a lawsuit asking for a TRO, and then ignore a trial subpoena for that hearing . . . may well find the federal marshals on your door to drag you in irons to explain yourself to the federal judge.
Reminds me of the kid who kills his parents then wants you to feel sorry for them because they’re an orphan.
This is typical Democrat “playing the victim” when either caught or failing at one of their stupid stunts. Do not expect adult behavior from a Democrat. Ever. (Adult behavior is a disqualification for a Democrat)
Nothing Leftists do is ever the fault of their actions.
Wouldn’t SLAPP laws apply here?
No. This is a p*g contest between two government representatives. “The public” is not a party.
The public is not a party to any SLAPP lawsuits.
The real answer is, no, SLAPP laws don’t apply here because it’s a federal suit and there is no federal SLAPP law.
Thanks for that information
Um… in SLAPP, what do the last three letters stand for?
And also, why a controversy between Texas and its own legislators a “federal suit?” That makes even less sense.
Democrats addressing First World Problems on their private jet:
Gaze upon the visages of this disadvantaged ‘protected class’ and wonder no more.
Our Olympic Athletes are more diverse – they look like the representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee, who shouldn’t have been permitted to compete from the jump.
Don’t they have to return to Texas to appear in court?
No, they don’t have to appear.
But if they don’t come back by the time the legislature’s budget runs out, their paychecks will stop.
Negative. Defendants have any number of means at their disposal to require them to show up in Austin — the venue they chose to file suit in. Trial subpoenas for the TRO hearing are probably the easiest.
“Causing distress” is not a cause of action unless the distress is caused by some outrageous action. Mere speech, which is constitutional protected, can’t give rise to such a cause of action.
Saying that someone subject to a lawful arrest warrant will indeed be arrested is certainly not a cause of action. Otherwise every judge, policeman, prosecutor, etc. would be committing a tort, which is ridiculous.
This needs to be dismissed PDQ, with sanctions.
Good point Milhouse. Their distress from the fear of arrest is is the most ill-founded fear since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez feared being raped by Capitol rioters.
It’s worse than that. It was hypothetically possible that AOC could have been raped. It was never likely, but it was possible. And had it happened it would have been a crime, so her distress at it would have been legitimate. But the “threat” to arrest these people is simply a promise to carry out the law. Their distress at the thought of being arrested is no different than that of a criminal in the same situation. They’re not criminals, but they’re in the same situation, the subjects of valid arrest warrants. So their distress is not an issue; they’re supposed to feel distress.
Texas needs to reform their Legislative Quorum rules so that those Legislators out of the state do not count in calculating a quorum.
That would take a constitutional amendment.
Which is perfectly feasible in Texas. We’re not shy about amending our Constitution when it appears warranted.