WI Senate Orders Dems' Arrest
Politico reports:
The Wisconsin state Senate passed a resolution ordering the 14 Democratic senators who fled the state two weeks ago to return to the Capitol by late Thursday afternoon or face being taken into custody by police.
Republicans voted 19-0 on a measure ordering the Democrats to return to Madison by 4 p.m. Thursday. If they do not, arrive in the Senate chamber by then, they will be found “in contempt and disorderly behavior” and subject to being taken into custody, the Republicans said. The Democrats have been across state lines in Illinois to block the Senate from voting on Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial budget bill, which would limit collective bargaining rights for most public sector unions.
“We simply cannot have democracy be held hostage because the minority wants to prove a point,” Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said. “They have pushed us to the edge of a constitutional crisis.”
The measure is different from asking for authorities to arrest the Democrats, Fitzgerald said, but it is “definitely a shift from asking them politely.”
The Wisconsin State Journal reported that it’s unclear whether the move to force the senators back to Madison is constitutional. The state Constitution bars the arrest of legislators while in session unless they’re believed to have committed felonies, treason or breach of the peace.
Click here to read more.
