ILLINOIS, USA — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Texas Tribune. Read the original article here.

Illinois courts will not force Texas Democrats back to the state, a judge ruled Wednesday, dealing a blow to Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ efforts to restore the headcount necessary to pass the GOP’s new congressional map.

Burrows issued civil arrest warrants Aug. 4 for the dozens of House Democrats who left the state to deny quorum, the minimum number of people required for the House to take up legislation. Those warrants can only be enforced within state lines, making them largely symbolic for the lawmakers who had absconded to Illinois, Massachusetts and New York.

But Burrows and Paxton took the unusual step of asking

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