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

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.

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,