Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Texas

Re: Tex. Legislature Democrats Walkout

I presume she means Article IV, section 2, paragraph 3, since the section you mention governs the admission of new states and the disposition of federal property.

The answer to your daughter's question is no, these men and women were not "held to service" in Texas.

Article IV, section 2, paragraph 3 says "No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shal be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due."

The paragraph refers to convicts whose sentences require them to provide services or labor to a particular person -- usually the victim of their crimes -- as part of their punishment. This is a somewhat outmoded form of punishment, but creative judges still use it now and then. The idea is that such a person should not be able to escape punishment simply by leaving the state, but has to be returned to the party who was to receive the services or labor.

The Democratic legislators in Texas are not forced to serve due to a criminal sentence, even if they feel otherwise about their treatment by their Republican colleagues.

The way your daughter reads the statute, no employed person could cross a state line without risking capture and forcible return upon the demand of his or her employer. Sounds rather draconian to me.