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I'm the North Texas Reporter for Courthouse News Service. I graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a BS/MS in Journalism and Political Science. Find my most recent work below, or see my favorite articles under the 'Featured Work' tab.

Courthouse News Service •

Fifth Circuit split on Louisiana police buffer zone law

A group of media companies is challenging the law, arguing it interferes with journalists' ability to engage in newsgathering.(CN) — A Fifth Circuit panel appeared divided Monday on the constitutionality of a Louisiana law allowing police officers to order people not to come within 25 feet of them.Act 259, passed in 2024, makes it a crime for a person to approach within 25 feet of a police officer after the officer has ordered them to stop approaching or to retreat. Shortly before the law took e...
Courthouse News Service •

Navy Federal Credit Union sued over insufficient reasons for credit denial

DALLAS (CN) — A Navy Federal Credit Union customer claims the bank systemically denies consumers information they are legally entitled to as to why their credit applications are denied.Navy Federal Credit Union is a member-owned financial institution that exclusively serves members of the U.S. military community. It has over 15 million members and holds $203.5 billion in assets, making it the world’s largest credit union.In a complaint filed in the Northern District of Texas, Dominic Castleberry...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas AG claims Discord serves as 'hunting ground' for child predators

MCKINNEY, Texas (CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Discord Friday, claiming the popular social media platform allows rampant child exploitation.In a complaint filed in Collin County District Court, Paxton claims that despite marketing itself as safe, Discord has design features that enable predation, including private servers, reliance on unpaid volunteers for server moderation and safety features that require users to opt-in.“Discord presents itself to the world as...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas accuses WhatsApp of lying about message privacy

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says that, contrary to WhatsApp's claims about its encrypted messages, the messaging giant can in fact view nearly all communications sent through its platform.MARSHALL, Texas (CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued WhatsApp and its parent company Meta Thursday, claiming that WhatsApp has falsely represented that its users’ messages are kept completely private, including from the platform itself.In actuality, Paxton claims, WhatsApp and Meta can view virtu...
Courthouse News Service •

Poll: Voters prefer Democrats take control of the House

A Quinnipiac University poll found 50% of voters prefer the Democrats win the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections, compared to 39% who favor the Republicans. This comes as Democrats have faced setbacks in a nationwide redistricting battle.(CN) — Voters would prefer Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterms, a recent Quinnipiac University poll found.According to a nationwide survey of 1,106 registered voters, the results of which were released W...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas attorney general accuses Islamic school of operating unauthorized university

Attorney General Ken Paxton claims Texas American Muslim University at Dallas, also known as TexAM, is operating without required state authorization and that it goes by names that are misleadingly similar to Texas A&M University.MCKINNEY, Texas (CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Monday accusing an Islamic university of operating without the state’s authorization.In a complaint filed in Collin County District Court, Paxton says Texas American Muslim University at Dallas, or...
Courthouse News Service •

Prehistoric Danes continued to fish for food even after the rise of agriculture

The study's findings challenge the notion that the introduction of agriculture abruptly replaced hunting and fishing among early humans.(CN) — Prehistoric people in what is now Denmark continued to rely on fish for sustenance even after the introduction of domesticated livestock, researchers say in a study released Wednesday in the journal PLOS One, challenging the notion that the rise of agriculture among early humans resulted in an abrupt change in subsistence strategies.Danish and German rese...
Courthouse News Service •

Fifth Circuit wrestles with constitutionality of congressional proxy voting

Texas claims a trillion dollar federal spending law is invalid because it was passed with proxy voting during the Covid-19 pandemic.(CN) — The federal government maintained Tuesday to the full Fifth Circuit that the House of Representatives’ use of proxy voting during the Covid-19 pandemic didn’t violate the Constitution’s quorum clause, as the state of Texas insists.Texas claims that the proxy voting led to the improper passage of a $1.7 trillion spending law in 2023 — and particularly the Preg...
Courthouse News Service •

Voting rights groups sue as Louisiana suspends congressional primaries

Advocates claim postponing elections in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling creates mass confusion for voters, including tens of thousands who have already cast early or absentee ballots.(CN) — Voting rights groups are suing the Louisiana secretary of state to stop Governor Jeff Landry from suspending the state’s primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives.The primary elections are scheduled for May 16, with runoffs June 27. But after the U.S. Supreme Court found the state’s current...
Courthouse News Service •

Fewer and fewer Americans think Trump 'keeps his promises,' Pew survey finds

The percentages of Americans who think the president is honest, mentally sharp and a good role model have all also declined.(CN) — The share of Americans who see President Donald Trump as someone who keeps his promises has fallen dramatically since the 2024 election, a new Pew Research survey has found.A survey of 5,103 U.S. adults found that only 38% think Trump “keeps his promises” — a notable drop from the 51% who said the same in November 2024. The survey also found declines in the number of...
Courthouse News Service •

Fifth Circuit split on Trump's mandatory detention policy

The appeals court previously allowed the government to deny bond hearings for all immigration detainees who entered the U.S. without being lawfully admitted, but some federal judges have ruled this violates due process rights.(CN) — A Fifth Circuit panel heard arguments Wednesday on whether the Trump administration can deny bond hearings for all immigration detainees who entered the country unlawfully, regardless of how long they’ve been in the U.S.The Fifth Circuit ruled in February that the ad...
Courthouse News Service •

Death row inmate claims Satanism evidence at sentencing violated First Amendment

Irving Alvin Davis says the state's use of his religious beliefs as evidence he poses a future danger to society violates his constitutional rights.(CN) —  A death row inmate asked a Fifth Circuit panel Tuesday to overturn his death sentence, arguing the prosecution violated his First Amendment rights by introducing evidence of his belief in Satanism in his resentencing trial.Defense attorney Todd Scher told the panel that the Church of Satan is a “nonviolent” religion whose members view Satan a...
Courthouse News Service •

Conservative physicians accuse medical boards of censorship

The physicians are angling for the Fifth Circuit to revive their claims that medical certifications are being threatened for conservative opinions on issues like Covid-19 and abortion.(CN) — Two physicians and a conservative medical group told a Fifth Circuit panel Monday that major medical boards are threatening the certifications of physicians whose opinions they disagree with, which they argue violates the First Amendment and antitrust laws.They asked the panel to revive their claims against...
Courthouse News Service •

Fifth Circuit unblocks Texas immigration law

The ruling is the latest in a long-running battle over a Texas law permitting state and local law enforcement to arrest people for immigration violations and empowering state judges to issue deportation orders.(CN) — A divided Fifth Circuit ruled 10-7 Friday to reverse an injunction blocking a Texas law allowing for state immigration enforcement, finding the legal groups and Texas county challenging the law lacked standing.Passed in 2023, Senate Bill 4 allows state and local law enforcement to a...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas accuses Democratic fundraising platform of enabling 'rampant donor fraud'

FORT WORTH, Texas (CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue Monday, claiming it allows donors to make fraudulent contributions through gift cards and prepaid debit cards.ActBlue is a digital fundraising platform that enables small-dollar donors to contribute to Democratic candidates and progressive causes. It is a major part of the Democratic Party’s fundraising infrastructure, reportedly raising almost $1.8 billion last year.The platform came under sc...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas AG sues Houston over new ICE ordinance

(CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the city of Houston Thursday over a new city ordinance prohibiting Houston police from detaining people for immigration officers, claiming it violates a state law against sanctuary city policies.Last week, the Houston city council passed Proposition A, enacting an ordinance barring police from detaining people solely for civil immigration warrants.In a petition filed in Fort Bend County District Court, Paxton claims the ordinance violates Texas Senat...
Courthouse News Service •

Federal Trade Commission accuses ad agencies of conspiring to demonetize conservative media

Three of the world's largest ad firms have reached proposed settlement agreements with the FTC and several states, promising not to enter into or enforce agreements with third parties to restrict or steer advertisers' spending based on ideological viewpoint.(CN) — The Federal Trade Commission sued three of the world’s largest advertising companies Wednesday, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by creating shared brand safety standards that discriminate against conservative viewpoints.The F...
Courthouse News Service •

Man forced to drive 70 miles to fill prescriptions takes fight to Eighth Circuit

An Arkansas employee whose benefits are managed by a CVS subsidiary claims the pharmacy benefit manager is violating state law by forcing him to fill prescriptions at faraway CVS pharmacies rather than local options.(CN) — An Arkansas man seeking to fill his prescriptions closer to home brought his battle against a pharmacy benefit manager to the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday, pushing for enforcement of state regulations instead of a federal law that sets nationwide standards for employee benefits p...
Courthouse News Service •

Seeking proof of citizenship for voter registration, Louisiana sues federal election agency

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission denied a request by Louisiana to add state-specific language to the federal voter registration form requiring applicants in Louisiana to provide information enabling election officials to verify their citizenship.(CN) — The state of Louisiana on Tuesday sued the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, challenging its refusal to allow the state to add a proof of citizenship requirement to federal voter registration forms.After Louisiana passed a law in 2024 re...
Courthouse News Service •

Donalds dominating in GOP primary for Florida governor

Byron Donalds, the U.S. Representative for Florida's 19th District, received President Donald Trump's endorsement last year in the Florida governor's race.(CN) — A new Emerson College poll released Thursday found U.S. Representative Byron Donalds far outpaces his opponents in the Florida GOP gubernatorial primary.A survey of 1,125 likely voters in Florida found that 46% of Republicans support Donalds, who currently represents Florida’s 19th District. This far exceeds the other candidates in the...
Courthouse News Service •

Fifth Circuit grapples with city’s liability for home destroyed in SWAT raid

The city of McKinney, Texas, is challenging a federal judge's ruling that it owes a homeowner almost $60,000 under the Texas Constitution after a police standoff left her house in ruins.(CN) — A Fifth Circuit panel on Monday wrestled with the issue of who pays when police damage property while pursuing a suspect.The city of McKinney, Texas, is asking the panel to overturn a nearly $60,000 judgment for a homeowner whose house was badly damaged during a 2020 police standoff with an armed fugitive...
Courthouse News Service •

Judge buries Musk's suit claiming advertisers illegally boycotted X

The social media site formerly known as Twitter accused major advertisers of conspiring to boycott the platform after Elon Musk's 2022 purchase, costing the company billions of dollars.WICHITA FALLS, Texas (CN) — A federal judge in Texas dismissed a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s social media platform X Thursday accusing a group of advertisers of engaging in an illegal boycott.In the lawsuit, X targeted the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a now-defunct initiative by the World Federation of Advert...
Courthouse News Service •

Pew on America at 250 years old: Older, more diverse, fewer marriages

As the United States' 250th birthday approaches, a new report by Pew Research shows how the country has changed in the past 50 years.(CN) — With the U.S. set to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding in July, a report by Pew Research released Wednesday details how Americans today are older, more racially diverse and increasingly unmarried compared to 50 years ago.The report, which explores how the country has changed in the last half-century, finds that the population of the U.S. has ag...
Courthouse News Service •

Nearly 2 in 3 Americans see next world war on horizon

An Emerson College poll found 63% of likely voters believe World War III is looming in the next four years, up 8% from the same time last year.(CN) — With the outbreak of war between the U.S. and Iran, a new poll released Friday shows Americans see an increasing likelihood of a world war within the next few years.A survey of 1,000 likely voters by Emerson College found 63% believe it’s either somewhat or very likely that a world war will break out in the next four years, an eight-point jump from...
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