I noticed in the schedule of the Democratic National Convention that Nancy Keenan spoke yesterday as the president of NARAL. I like her! As a teacher and legislator, she was one of “our people” when I was a lobbyist intern for the Montana Federation of Teachers.
One day there was a call of the house, a motion which can be adopted by a deliberative assembly that has the authority to compel the attendance of its members in the absence of a quorum. The effect of the adoption of this motion is that the president of the assembly makes out arrest warrants which authorize the sergeant-at-arms to arrest any or all absent members and bring them to the meeting hall so that a quorum may be present. This motion is usually seen in houses of legislatures, such as the United States House of Representatives.
When the members realized that they were going to be forced to spend the night in the state house (because of the two absent members, one was undergoing a root canal and the other had flown to California to retrieve a wayward daughter) some of the Butte representatives sent out for liquor and broke out the cards.
Nancy Keenan and one of the other female lesislators set up a free-standing tent in the aisle, unrolled sleeping bags, got in and went to sleep until the boys were done playing their games.