Texas Supreme Court Ruling on the state legislature Democratic Party On Tuesday, this may clear the way for them to be arrested for fleeing the state to prevent Republicans from voting on the bill.

More than a month after more than 50 Democrats left the state to prevent restrictive bills from advancing, Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signed an arrest warrant last week.Although the district court quickly issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the enforcement order, the state Supreme Court has Temporarily blocked The restraining order before the issuance of Tuesday’s ruling.

“The legal issue facing this court only concerns whether the Texas Constitution grants the House of Representatives the power to compel absent members to attend,” Justice James D. Blacklock wrote in Tuesday’s ruling. “We concluded that this was indeed the case, so we instructed the district court to withdraw [temporary restraining order].”

The civil arrest warrant is based on the internal rules of the State House of Representatives and will not cause any criminal charges against Democrats, although lawmakers may be forced to return to the State Capitol. Although some Democrats may still not be in the state and therefore outside the jurisdiction of Texas, those who return home may now be arrested.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the restraining order that the state Democrats must protect against arrest warrants is invalid. This photo shows Democratic chairman Rep. Chris Turner (TX-101), Rep. Rafael Anchia (TX-103), Rep. Senfronia Thompson (TX-141) and Rep. Rita Powers (TX-113) at a press conference for voting rights outside the U.S. Capitol on July 13.
Kevin Ditch/Getty

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.