Texas rep held in state Capitol seeks court order for her release
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Rep. Nicole Collier was still on the House floor in the State Capitol on Tuesday. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
The Texas Democrat who slept in the state Capitol on Monday is accusing the state's House speaker of illegally confining her and threatening her with arrest.
Why it matters: Rep. Nicole Collier's court filing is an escalation of a two-week standoff between Texas Democrats and Republicans over rare mid-decade redistricting, which could create up to five additional U.S. House districts favorable to Republicans.
- Democrats returned to the state Capitol on Monday but were told by House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) that they could not leave the building unless they had a law enforcement escort.
The latest: Collier's request for a writ of habeas corpus, filed in Austin, claims the Texas Legislature does not have the authority to arrest or force a member who is present to stay in the state Capitol.
- "She is not absent and — thus — her appearance need not, and cannot, be compelled," the complaint says.
Catch up quick: Many of the House Democrats who broke quorum earlier this month to block a redistricting vote returned to the Capitol on Monday.
- But Burrows said the Democrats who had arrest warrants issued for them could leave the building only if they agreed to be released into the custody of a DPS officer who would ensure their return on Wednesday.
- Collier did not agree to those terms and was ordered to spend Monday night in the Capitol.
State of play: On Tuesday morning, Collier posted a photo of her asleep in her chair in the Texas House chamber with the book "African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals" on her desk.
- Rep. Gene Wu, who chairs the state's Democratic caucus, kept her company.
- "My constituents sent a fighter to Austin and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to resist the best way I can and that is by standing my ground," Collier said in an Instagram video.
- By the afternoon, demonstrators had gathered outside the chamber to show support for her.
The other side: Burrows and other Texas GOP leaders had not commented on Collier's stay in the state Capitol as of Tuesday afternoon.
- Attorney General Ken Paxton joined a conservative radio show Tuesday morning to talk about President Trump, Paxton's campaign against Sen. John Cornyn and Republicans' districting push. The interview did not mention Collier.
Flashback: Collier, a lawyer from Fort Worth, is in her sixth term as a state representative.
- She was the first woman to represent District 95 and, in 2019, became the first woman to chair the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.