Posted on 08/21/2003 7:57:19 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Senators amend federal lawsuit in Laredo
BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer
Chief U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen will hold the first hearing in Laredo next Wednesday on all pending legal motions involving Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, as the bitter struggle to pass a new congressional redistricting map moves into a federal courtroom.
The hearing in Laredo is set for Aug. 27 and will begin at 9 a.m.
While both factions remain entrenched in their positions, legal motions filed in federal court and partisan hostilities continue to mount.
On Wednesday morning, attorneys for the 11 Democratic state senators amended their original complaint filed against Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst last Monday in federal court.
The focus of the changes in the amended complaint "is the issue of the unprecedented threats, fines and other sanctions that the lieutenant governor and a group of senators remaining in Austin seek to impose on the 11 plaintiff senators."
The Texas 11 charge Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and their Republican colleagues in the Texas Senate with violating the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as the due process and equal protection clauses by imposing these sanctions.
They argue that their July 28 decision to break quorum and leave for Albuquerque, N.M., to block passage of a new congressional map is considered political speech, "fundamental to the right to freedom of speech."
In another legal development, the Texas 11 and their attorneys have accused the Texas Attorney General's office of being "dishonest" and "disingenuous" for actions taken last Friday.
The AG's office filed a motion, also in Laredo's federal court, arguing that the U.S. Department of Justice does not need to give pre-clearance for suspending the two-thirds rule in the Texas Senate to comply with the Voting Rights Act.
On the very same day, however, the AG "secretly" submitted a letter to the Department of Justice seeking an expedited review for pre-clearance on suspending the two-thirds rule.
"The state's filing with the court on Friday contains no reference to their simultaneous submission to the Justice Department," said Gerry Hebert, legal counsel to the Texas 11.
"By not informing the court, the Attorney General's office hid the ball from the court on a matter directly relevant to the issues before it," Hebert added. "In my view, that falls short of the ethical standards that attorneys as officers of the court should follow."
From Albuquerque, state Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) said "the Texas 11 have unanimously agreed that Perry and his gang are being disingenuous and dishonest with their actions."
As for the amended complaint filed Wednesday, it details the events surrounding the sanctions imposed on the Texas 11 by their Republican counterparts.
On Aug. 12, two weeks into the Texas 11's self-imposed exile, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and most of the Republican senators "met in secret for several hours, claiming that the meeting was a Senate Republican Caucus meeting with a non-member invited guest," according to the amended complaint.
The group later emerged in open session and "approved a motion that would impose substantial monetary penalties on the 11 absent senators, which, if the second special session were to run its course, would total $57,000 per senator" to be paid for out of the senators' personal funds.
Three days later on Aug. 15, the same group of officeholders reconvened in Austin and voted to suspend "an extensive list of senatorial privileges" until the Texas 11 submit full payment of the fines levied Aug. 12.
These privileges include purchasing, mail, travel, use of conference and other rooms in the Capitol, parking, subscriptions, printing, cell phones and staff floor passes,
"As a final step, the group of senators and the lieutenant governor extended the reach of these fines to some indefinite point beyond the conclusion of the second special session," the amended complaint states. "None of the sanctions imposed on Aug. 12 and Aug. 15 rest on any existing Senate rules."
(Staff writer Tricia Cortez can be reached at 728-2568 or tricia@lmtonline.com.)
08/21/03
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