An Illinois judge on Wednesday declined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) request to hold Texas Democrats who fled there in contempt. Paxton reached across state lines to seek a ruling that would effectively force the blue state to comply with efforts to arrest the lawmakers and return them to Texas to end their

Illinois law enforcement officers cannot arrest Texas House Democrats who have been staying in the northern state in protest of a congressional redistricting map, a state judge ruled Wednesday. The ruling,

Judge Scott Larson ruled that the Texas speaker and attorney general had “failed to present a legal basis for the court” to take up the issue.

On Tuesday, the Texas State Senate approved the new maps which are aimed at flipping as many as five Texas seats in the U.S. House of Representatives from Democratic to Republican. That includes three Houston-area districts. However, those new maps cannot move forward without approval from the Texas House.

Nine Indiana House Democrats joined Texas House Democrats in Chicago to stand against mid-decade redistricting of congressional districts – which Texas Democrats are currently fighting against and