SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson explains the rarely enforced rules being applied during this second special session of the legislature.

A Fort Worth lawmaker’s sit-in on the Texas House floor picked up steam late Tuesday as fellow Democrats flocked to her side for the second night of her round-the-clock vigil after she refused to allow a state trooper to shadow her until the chamber could vote on a new congressional map.

Texas Republicans mandated that Democratic lawmakers not be allowed to leave the state house without a permission slip and a police escort.