Courthouse News Service • 16th September 2026

Outlet mall owners ask Texas Supreme Court to axe mass shooting lawsuit

In 2023, a mass shooter killed eight people and injured seven others at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas. Victims of the shooting argue the mall's owners were negligent in failing to adopt appropriate security measures.(CN) — The largest mall owner in the nation urged the top court in Texas to throw out a lawsuit by victims of a 2023 mass shooting, but at least one justice was skeptical Wednesday.The victims and their families claim the owners of the mall — an open-air shopping center in Allen, Te...

Courthouse News Service • 11th September 2026

Texas Supreme Court bars new Galveston County map for November elections

The court found the county violated the Texas Election Code by redrawing precinct boundaries after the March primaries.(CN) — The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that Galveston County can’t use redrawn precinct boundaries designed to benefit Republicans in the upcoming November elections.In an unsigned opinion, the court found that county commissioners violated the Texas Election Code by redrawing precincts used to elect commissioners, constables and justices of the peace after the March primar...

Courthouse News Service • 10th September 2026

Democrats hold 11-point lead for House control in new Quinnipiac poll

A recent survey found 49% of voters would prefer Democrats take control of the House of Representatives, compared to 38% for Republicans.(CN) — Two months out from the midterms, Quinnipiac University found in a poll released Thursday that Democrats have an 11-point lead over Republicans for who voters want to see take control of the U.S. House of Representatives.Pollsters conducted a nationwide survey of 970 registered voters Sept. 3-6 and found that 49% would prefer Democrats win control of the...

Courthouse News Service • 9th September 2026

Fifth Circuit questions Louisiana’s renewed attempt to block abortion pill mailing

Louisiana's effort to reverse the FDA's decision to allow remote dispensing of abortion pills could have significant implications for abortion access nationwide.(CN) — A Fifth Circuit panel questioned Wednesday a request by Louisiana to block the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision to allow the mailing of abortion pills.Louisiana has clarified it’s not asking the panel to block telehealth prescription of abortion pills. Rather, it is asking the judges to stay the FDA’s 2023 decision to...

Courthouse News Service • 4th September 2026

Texas education board adopts anti-Islam social studies standards

The new standards require high school students to learn about "the teachings of jihad" and how "radical Islam" motivated 9/11.(CN) — The Texas State Board of Education voted Friday to approve new high school social studies standards that disparage Islam.The new standards, which are set to take effect in 2030, require students to learn how “radical Islam” motivated the 9/11 attacks and “the teachings of jihad” led to the “conquest of Christian lands.”The new standards also require schools to teac...

Courthouse News Service • 2nd September 2026

Fifth Circuit urged to shoot down restriction on interstate handgun purchases

Second Amendment proponents argue a federal law requiring handgun purchasers to route out-of-state purchases through a dealer in their home state does not fit with the nation's "history and tradition" of firearm regulation.(CN) — Gun rights advocates asked a Fifth Circuit panel Wednesday to axe federal restrictions on handgun purchases across state lines, which they say violate the Second Amendment.The federal statutes at issue, enacted in 1968, make it illegal to directly purchase a handgun out...

Courthouse News Service • 1st September 2026

Fifth Circuit might inject new life into Texas' Covid-19 vaccine lawsuit

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking to revive his lawsuit claiming Pfizer lied to the public about the efficacy of its Covid-19 vaccine — and Fifth Circuit judges' jurisdictional concerns could give him a boost.(CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton might get another bite at the apple in his fraud lawsuit against Pfizer over the Covid-19 vaccine, as multiple Fifth Circuit judges suggested Tuesday that the federal judge who dismissed the case may have lacked jurisdiction.The case cente...

Courthouse News Service • 31st August 2026

AI hallucinations derail debate over Mississippi's DEI ban in schools

Mississippi officials told an appeals panel that a lower court order blocking the state's crackdown on "divisive concepts" was tainted by the use of artificial intelligence.(CN) — Mississippi officials asked a Fifth Circuit panel Monday to lift a federal judge’s preliminary injunction blocking portions of a state law passed last year prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion in public schools — and the lower court’s use of artificial intelligence might help their case.Mississippi Deputy Solici...

Courthouse News Service • 27th August 2026

Fifth Circuit sides with news aggregator in copyright battle

The appeals panel also determined that some URLs could count as copyright management information, which could have implications for linking back and forth on the internet.(CN) — News aggregator NewsBreak prevailed Thursday in a copyright dispute with a publisher who took issue with embedded news articles displayed on NewBreak’s app.Emmerich Newspapers, which publishes local newspapers across Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, had challenged a lower court’s decision that NewsBreak did not viola...

Courthouse News Service • 26th August 2026

Texas judge declines to order ICE agent's extradition to Minnesota

Minnesota claims Texas Governor Greg Abbott is unlawfully withholding the extradition of an ICE agent accused of an illegal shooting in Minneapolis.(CN) — A Texas federal judge denied a request by the state of Minnesota Wednesday to order Texas Governor Greg Abbott to authorize the extradition of an ICE agent to face criminal charges over the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis.Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have accused Abbott of violating the U...

Courthouse News Service • 23rd August 2026

Judge denies Karmelo Anthony’s motion for a new trial

The 19-year-old was convicted of murdering a fellow high schooler at a track meet in a case that has captured national attention and inflamed racial tensions.MCKINNEY, Texas (CN) — A Texas judge denied Karmelo Anthony’s motion for a new trial Saturday in the murder of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a suburban Dallas track meet.In a two-day hearing that ended Friday evening, Anthony’s appellate attorneys argued he was denied his right to an open trial because of restrictions on the public’s access...

Courthouse News Service • 21st August 2026

Karmelo Anthony seeks new trial in track meet stabbing case

The defense argues it forewent important character evidence on victim Austin Metcalf pursuant to a "gentleman's agreement" with the prosecution.McKINNEY, Texas (CN) — The public got its first look this week at what defense attorneys say was important evidence left out of Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial as the convicted killer fights for a second chance to prove his claim of self-defense in the fatal stabbing of fellow highschooler Austin Metcalf at a suburban Dallas track meet.In a two-day hearin...

Courthouse News Service • 18th August 2026

Detective not immune from civil rights claims brought by America's longest serving exoneree

Glynn Simmons served more than 48 years in prison for the murder of a liquor store clerk before he was exonerated in 2023.(CN) — A federal judge in Oklahoma Tuesday declined to throw out civil rights claims against an Oklahoma City police detective accused of fabricating evidence that resulted in the 1975 conviction of Glynn Simmons, who is believed to be the longest-serving exoneree in American history.Simmons spent almost half a century in prison after he was convicted for the 1974 murder of a...

Courthouse News Service • 5th August 2026

Chevron tries to dodge $745 million verdict over Louisiana coastline damage

(CN) — Chevron maintained on Wednesday before a Fifth Circuit panel that lawsuits by Louisiana and its various parishes accusing it of decades of coastline damage from oil drilling belong in federal court, not state court.In its effort to undo a Louisiana jury’s $745 million verdict, Chevron argues that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a related case brought by Plaquemines Parish — the same parish now at issue — shows that this case belongs in federal court.Chevron says part of the claims r...

Courthouse News Service • 4th August 2026

'Trump Train' organizer challenges $40,000 verdict over harassment of Biden campaign bus

Eliazar Cisneros argues a federal court misinterpreted a Reconstruction-era civil rights law that creates a cause of action for conspiracies to harm people based on their "support or advocacy" for a federal political candidate.(CN) — A Trump supporter asked a Fifth Circuit panel Tuesday to overturn a $40,000 verdict he was slapped with over his role in organizing a convoy of cars known as a “Trump Train” that surrounded a Joe Biden campaign bus as it drove from San Antonio to Austin, Texas, days...

Courthouse News Service • 3rd August 2026

Diner seeks to revive lawsuit against famous Mississippi restaurant over fish fraud

Todd McCain is seeking to bring a class action against nationally lauded Mary Mahoney's in Biloxi, Mississippi, which in 2024 pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell cheap imported fish as expensive locally caught seafood.(CN) — A diner asked the Fifth Circuit Monday to restore his putative class action against renowned Mississippi restaurant Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, which has pleaded guilty to passing off frozen imported fish as locally caught fish.Todd McCain claims he dined at the Biloxi...

Courthouse News Service • 29th July 2026

Majority of voters think Iran war will last at least a year

A new Quinnipiac University poll also found support for the war has reached a record low, with six in 10 voters saying they oppose it.(CN) — A majority of American voters believe the war with Iran will last at least a year, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.This comes as support for the war reaches a record low, with the poll finding 60% of voters oppose it, the highest that number has been since Quinnipiac began asking the question in early March, shortly after the wa...

Courthouse News Service • 23rd July 2026

X ordered to turn over deleted posts in defamation case against Media Matters

The social media platform must hand over posts that it deleted itself, but posts deleted by users are protected from disclosure under federal law.FORT WORTH, Texas (CN) — A Texas federal judge ruled Thursday that Elon Musk’s social media platform X must hand over some deleted posts in its lawsuit against the left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters.The platform, formerly known as Twitter, is suing Media Matters over November 2023 reports claiming X was showing ads for major brands next to white...

Courthouse News Service • 22nd July 2026

Arkansas accuses pharma companies of plot to undermine federal drug discount program

340B is a federal program that requires pharma companies to provide discounted drugs for hospitals and clinics that serve low-income and underserved populations.(CN) — Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin claims in a lawsuit major drug manufacturers conspired to block healthcare providers from participating in a federal program designed to provide discounted medications for underserved communities.340B is a federal law that requires drug companies participating in Medicaid and Medicare to provi...

Courthouse News Service • 16th July 2026

A year after Camp Mystic, Central Texas may face more record-breaking floods

Rainfall levels are expected to exceed those that last year led to deadly floods that killed almost 140 people.(CN) — A year after devastating flooding killed 139 people, Texas Hill Country is once again under threat from floods as torrential rain hammers the region.Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 59 counties Tuesday, and he warned at a press conference Wednesday that the state is facing “a flood that is likely going to break records in Texas history.”“The Fourth of July f...

Courthouse News Service • 14th July 2026

Texas lieutenant governor candidate calls for moratorium on data centers

Vikki Goodwin held a press conference Tuesday with state and local leaders calling for limits on data center development in a state where the industry is currently seeing the fastest growth in the nation.(CN) — Texas Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Vikki Goodwin called Tuesday for a moratorium on new data centers in the state until more regulation is passed.Goodwin, who currently represents part of Austin in the Texas House of Representatives, held a press conference in the city with st...

Courthouse News Service • 9th July 2026

Jewish man denied franchise by Christian auto repair company takes fight to Fifth Circuit

A prospective franchisee is asking the appeals court to depart from precedent and apply a 19th-century civil rights law to people of the Jewish faith.(CN) — A Jewish man who was refused a franchise by a Christian auto repair company asked the Fifth Circuit Thursday to adopt a “novel” interpretation of a 19th-century civil rights law by finding it prohibits discrimination against members of the Jewish faith in contract decisions.The law at issue is Section 1981, a federal civil rights law passed...

Courthouse News Service • 8th July 2026

Texas inmate challenges conviction for murdering ex-fiancée

Michael Kevin Adams is asking the Fifth Circuit to vacate his conviction for shooting his former fiancée, who had accused him of sexual assault.(CN) — A Texas man asked a Fifth Circuit panel Wednesday to vacate his conviction for murdering his ex-fiancée after she accused him of sexual assault, arguing there isn’t enough evidence tying him to the crime for a rational jury to have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.Robert Udashen, an attorney representing Michael Kevin Adams, told the pan...

Courthouse News Service • 7th July 2026

Fifth Circuit scrutinizes police shooting of mentally ill woman

The children of Melissa Perez, who was shot and killed by San Antonio police during a schizophrenic episode, are challenging the dismissal of their civil rights lawsuit.(CN) — The children of a woman shot and killed by San Antonio police during a schizophrenic episode asked a Fifth Circuit panel Tuesday to revive their civil rights lawsuit against the city and two police officers.The plaintiffs claim the officers used excessive force in shooting 46-year-old Melissa Perez in 2023. The incident wa...