An Oregon Republican senator who boycotted the Capitol with his colleagues over a climate change bill last month filed a federal lawsuit Friday against a Democratic leader and other legislative officials.

Earlier this month, a legislative committee voted to require Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, to provide 12 hours’ notice before reporting to the Capitol so officials have time to arrange for additional state troopers to ensure the safety of employees and the public.

Boquist alleges in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Portland Friday that this amounts to punishment for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech on the Senate floor, where he told Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, in a June 19 floor speech, “If you send the state police to get me, hell is coming to visit you personally.”

Soon after, Boquist also threatened state police, saying that if they were going to haul him back to the Capitol they should “Send bachelors and come heavily armed. I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.”

The Republican senator claims in the lawsuit that the requirement for him to give notice before reporting to the Capitol violates his First Amendment right to freedom of assembly, specifically with constituents in his Capitol office. He says Democrats’ decision to send state troopers to round up absent Republicans at the end of the Legislative session, and the $500-a-day fines Democrats imposed on the GOP senators for failing to show up, violated his constitutional right to due process.

Boquist’s lawsuit names Courtney and two other Democrats who sit on a committee tasked with investigating complaints of misconduct by lawmakers, Sen. Floyd Prozanski and Sen. James Manning, both of Eugene. The committee, which is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, voted unanimously to require Boquist to give notice before coming to the Capitol. A spokeswoman for Courtney said he would not comment on active litigation.

The complaint also names the Legislature’s top lawyer, human resources director and a private attorney hired by the Legislature to conduct independent investigations of complaints about lawmakers.

Reporter Maxine Bernstein contributed to this report.

— Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud

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