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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 •

Pew finds most Democrats think US is losing ground in science

Democrats were also more likely than Republicans to say government investment in science is essential and that science has had a mostly positive effect on society.(CN) — Sixty-five percent of Democrats believe the United States is losing ground in scientific achievement compared to other countries, Pew Research Center said in a report released Thursday, a 28 percentage point increase since the question was last asked in 2023.The report is based on a survey of 5,111 U.S. adults conducted in Octob...
Courthouse News Service •

Junior high principal seeks qualified immunity from teacher's school prayer lawsuit

The teacher claims the principal forbade her from praying anywhere students might see her, but the principal argues he merely told her she couldn't pray at a student-led prayer event.(CN) — The principal of a Texas junior high asked a Fifth Circuit panel Friday to grant him qualified immunity from a teacher’s lawsuit claiming he violated her First Amendment rights by restricting her ability to pray at school.Lawyers for both sides offered starkly different accounts of the case. Alexa Gould, repr...
Courthouse News Service •

Widow of police cadet who died after ‘fight for your life’ training seeks to revive lawsuit

Brittney Kennedy claims trainers continued to attack her husband even after he tried to stop the exercise.(CN) — The widow of a police cadet who died during training asked a Fifth Circuit panel Thursday to reverse a federal court’s dismissal of her civil rights lawsuit over her husband’s death.Brittney Kennedy says her husband, Marquis Kennedy, died in September 2022 while training at the Arlington, Texas, police academy after he participated in what was informally known as a “fight for your lif...
Courthouse News Service •

Dallas anesthesiologist challenges conviction for poisoning IV bags

Dr. Raynaldo Riviera Ortiz argued that one man's emotional testimony about watching his wife die shouldn't have been included at trial, and one judge seemed sympathetic: "How is that not inflaming a jury?"(CN) — A Dallas anesthesiologist asked a Fifth Circuit panel Wednesday to overturn his conviction for poisoning patient IV bags with dangerous drugs, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction.In the summer of 2022, patients at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas...
Courthouse News Service •

Teachers union sues Texas Education Agency over investigations into Charlie Kirk posts

The union claims a letter from the state's education commissioner instructing superintendents to report teachers for "inappropriate" social media posts about the conservative activist's death violates the First Amendment.(CN) — A Texas teachers union filed a First Amendment lawsuit Tuesday, challenging a Texas Education Agency policy requiring school districts to report teachers to the agency for investigation for “inappropriate” social media posts regarding the death of conservative activist Ch...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas AG sues energy utility over Smokehouse Creek Fire

The 2024 wildfire, the largest on record in Texas history, was started by a decayed utility pole collapsing.(CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued utility company Xcel Energy Tuesday, claiming its negligence led to the record-breaking Smokehouse Creek Fire, which killed three people and is estimated to have caused over $1 billion in damage.The fire, which burned through over 1 million acres of the Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma in early 2024, is the largest recorded wildfire in Texa...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas AG sues smart TV makers over data privacy

Attorney General Ken Paxton claims smart TV manufacturers, including companies with ties to the Chinese government, have failed to adequately inform users their technology captures what is shown on their screens in real time.(CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued five major smart TV manufacturers Monday, accusing them of violating users’ data privacy.In complaints filed in several Texas state courts, Paxton claims smart TVs made by Sony, Samsung and LG, as well as China-based Hisense and...
Courthouse News Service •

First Circuit reverses block on Trump's Planned Parenthood funding cuts

The appeals panel said that a provision of the "Big, Beautiful Bill" that stripped Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood didn't violate the reproductive health care giant's rights.(CN) — A three-judge panel of the First Circuit ruled Friday that Planned Parenthood is unlikely to succeed in its claims that a new federal law denying it Medicaid funds is unconstitutional.The panel overturned a lower court’s order that had temporarily blocked a provision of President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas officials seek to unblock ban on mail ballot 'harvesting'

As part of SB 1, a controversial voting law passed after Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election, Texas has enacted a ban on paid canvassing in the presence of a mail ballot. A federal judge blocked officials from enforcing the ban, finding that it violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague.(CN) — Texas officials asked a U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel Tuesday to reverse a federal judge’s ruling blocking them from enforcing a state law banning paid political canvassi...
Courthouse News Service •

Makers of blood thinner Plavix seek to quash Texas suit

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claims that for decades the drugmakers failed to disclose that the medication is less effective in some minority patients, but the companies say the lawsuit is "stale and opportunistic."MARSHALL, Texas (CN) — The makers of the blood thinning medication Plavix filed a complaint Friday seeking to block a lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claiming the companies concealed that the drug is less effective for certain patients.In a petition filed Thursday, P...
Courthouse News Service •

Muslim civil rights group sues over Texas governor's terrorist group designation

Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation Tuesday declaring the Council on American–Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights group in the U.S., a foreign terrorist organization.(CN) — The Council on American–Islamic Relations on Thursday challenged a proclamation by Texas Governor Greg Abbott designating the Muslim civil rights group as a foreign terrorist organization and a transnational criminal organization.Abbott’s Tuesday proclamation declares that CAIR is a “successor organizati...
Courthouse News Service •

Trump-appointed judge spoils Texas redistricting effort

President Donald Trump called on Texas to give Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, but one of his handpicked federal judges helped block the new congressional map over racial gerrymandering concerns.EL PASO, Texas (CN) — A panel of three federal judges blocked Texas’s new congressional map from being used in the 2026 midterms, ruling 2-1 on Tuesday that a coalition of civil rights groups is likely to succeed in claiming the new map constitutes an unconstitutional ra...
Courthouse News Service •

Parents sue Camp Mystic over Texas flood deaths

Over 130 people, including 27 campers and two counselors at the Christian girls' camp, died from major flooding in Central Texas over the July 4 weekend.(CN) — The parents of several Camp Mystic campers who lost their lives when catastrophic flooding hit Central Texas earlier this year filed a lawsuit against the camp Monday, claiming it failed to evacuate their daughters and lacked proper emergency protocols.The Hill Country region of Texas experienced devastating flooding over the July 4 weeke...
Courthouse News Service •

Feds drop charges against Boeing over 737 Max crashes

Boeing has agreed to pay over $1.1 billion in fines, victim compensation and safety improvements in exchange for the criminal fraud case being dismissed.FORT WORTH, Texas (CN) — A Texas federal judge approved an agreement Thursday between federal prosecutors and aerospace giant Boeing to dismiss criminal fraud charges stemming from a pair of 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed a combined 346 people.Prosecutors accused Boeing of deceiving federal regulators about the safety of the Max’s...
Courthouse News Service •

Louisiana asks Fifth Circuit to ax heat restriction on prison farm labor

(CN) — The state of Louisiana asked a Fifth Circuit panel Wednesday to overturn a federal judge’s order requiring special protections for prisoners doing farm labor at the state’s notorious Angola prison when the temperature reaches a certain threshold.Voice of the Experienced, an organization that advocates for the rights of incarcerated individuals, has brought a putative class action on behalf of men held at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana, challenging the constitutional...
Courthouse News Service •

Chinese citizen challenges Texas property buying ban

Chinese American advocates and the Texas Attorney General's Office dispute whether a new Texas law banning people from China and other adversarial nations from buying property in the state applies to Chinese citizens permanently living in the U.S.(CN) — Lawyers from the Texas Attorney General’s Office and a Chinese American advocacy group argued before a Fifth Circuit panel Tuesday over whether a new state law preventing people from adversarial nations like China from buying property in the stat...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas asks Fifth Circuit to unblock social media child safety law

Tech companies and free speech advocates argue the law violates the First Amendment.(CN) — The state of Texas appealed to a Fifth Circuit panel Monday to reverse orders by a federal judge blocking portions of a Texas law aimed at protecting minors from harmful content on social media.The law, known as the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment, or SCOPE, Act, requires social media companies to create various protections for users under the age of 18.Among these are provisions that...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas sues Tylenol makers over asserted autism link

The state's lawsuit comes a month after the Trump administration publicly linked autism to mothers taking Tylenol during pregnancy. Experts have said the medication is safe.(CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the makers of Tylenol Tuesday, claiming they knowingly hid a purported link between pregnant women taking the medication and children developing autism.The suit comes a month after President Donald Trump controversially announced that taking acetaminophen, Tylenol’s active ingredi...
Courthouse News Service •

Minority voters challenge redistricting in major Texas county

Tarrant County has been a hotbed of Republican redistricting efforts at both the state and local levels.(CN) — A group of Black and Latino voters told a U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel Monday that Texas’ third-most populous county is using redistricting to disenfranchise minority and Democratic voters.Known as the largest red county in the country, Tarrant County has historically been considered a Republican stronghold, but a major demographic shift in recent decades has made the count...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas governor sending National Guard to 'No Kings' protest

The protest at the state Capitol is part of a series of nationwide demonstrations against President Donald Trump's agenda set to occur Saturday.AUSTIN, Texas (CN) ­— Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday that he is deploying both the Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety officers to Austin ahead of a “No Kings” protest planned at the state Capitol on Saturday.The protest is part of a nationwide series of demonstrations set to occur that day opposing President Donald Trump’...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas property owners ask Fifth Circuit to restore suit over chemical plant blasts

Almost 800 property owners have brought suit against the chemical company Arkema, claiming a series of explosions at the company's Houston-area plant during Hurricane Harvey contaminated their property with toxic chemicals.(CN) — A U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel appeared skeptical Wednesday of an attempt by hundreds of Texas property owners to resurrect a lawsuit over a series of explosions at a Houston-area chemical plant during Hurricane Harvey after a federal judge ruled the lawsui...
Courthouse News Service •

Pharma group asks Fifth Circuit to ax Medicare drug price negotiation

Pharmaceutical companies argue the negotiation program, in which the government sets how much the federal health insurance program for seniors will pay for certain high-cost drugs, is unconstitutional.(CN) — A lobby group for drug manufacturers asked a U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel Tuesday to block Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prices under the Inflation Reduction Act, arguing the negotiation scheme violates the Constitution by blocking judicial review and imposing excessive f...
Courthouse News Service •

Man shot by police after disarming shooter asks Fifth Circuit to restore suit

The Texas man claims he was shot by an Laredo police officer despite yelling that he wasn't the shooter.(CN) — A Texas man who was shot by a police officer after disarming a gunman who broke into his home is challenging a federal judge’s ruling that the officer’s actions were objectively reasonable.Jorge Martinez asked a U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel Monday to reverse the judge’s ruling and send the case back to the lower court for a trial.His attorney, David Flores, told the panel U...
Courthouse News Service •

Texas judge says guns can't be banned from post offices

(CN) — The U.S. government cannot constitutionally keep people from carrying guns in and around post offices, a Texas federal judge ruled Tuesday, finding that such restrictions lack a historical basis.In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor cited the U.S Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which set a new standard for Second Amendment cases whereby gun restrictions have to be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition” in order to...
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