Attorney General Paxton is pleased to announce on June 30, 2022, after six hours of deliberations, a jury returned a capital murder guilty verdict in the case of State v. Freddie Lee Smith. Former Austin Police Officer Vontrey Clark hired Freddie Smith to kill Samantha Dean for $5,000 because she was pregnant with Clark’s child and refused to have an abortion. Clark and Dean had been in a sporadic relationship for over six years. Clark had his friend, Kevin Watson, broker the […]
Attorney General Paxton
AG Paxton Disappointed with SCOTUS Decision to Let Biden Admin Abandon Remain-in-Mexico Program
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s narrow decision to reverse lower-court wins against the Biden Administration on the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain-in-Mexico Program, Attorney General Paxton made the following statement: “Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is an unfortunate one, and I believe it was wrongly decided. Over a year ago, Texas and Missouri sued the Biden Administration for illegally abandoning MPP. I won in district court and […]
AG Paxton Proud of His Agency’s Work in Support of Religious Liberty Win at the U.S. Supreme Court
Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated a major win for religious liberty as the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Coach Joseph Kennedy’s claim against a school district that fired him for engaging in public prayer after football games at Bremerton High School in Washington state — sometimes including athletes who wished to participate. The school district claimed that Coach Kennedy’s on-field prayers violated the First Amendment. In October 2021, Attorney General Paxton and […]
Attorney General Paxton Urges Feds to Investigate Violence Against Pro-Life Groups
Attorney General Paxton joined a comment letter led by Ohio, addressed to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging him to investigate the barrage of threats and attacks made against pro-life judges and pro-life organizations. In a pointed letter, Texas along with 18 other states, urged Garland to take swift action in response to recent terrorist acts against anti-abortion organizations, calling the lack of action intolerable, politically motivated and in violation of his oath of office. […]
AG Paxton Celebrates End of Roe v. Wade; Announces Abortion Now Illegal in Texas
Today the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), thus bringing an end to a half century of the unconstitutional and unconscionable national “right” to abortion. Attorney General Paxton also released an official advisory setting forth Texas law in light of the Supreme Court’s decision. Additionally, he announced the statewide closure of his agency’s offices today in honor of the nearly 70 million unborn babies […]
Paxton Demands Construction of Border Wall in Laredo Sector
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) yesterday urging it to press forward with its original plan to build a border wall in Webb and Zapata Counties. The Biden Administration is currently conducting an “Environmental Assessment” of the wall, the construction of which was directed by Congress in 2020 and has since been stalled by the Biden Administration. This Assessment will likely be used as a […]
AG Paxton Secures $14 Million in Restitution for Consumers in Settlement with Intuit Turbo Tax
Attorney General Paxton announced a significant settlement against Inuit Inc., who markets the popular product “Turbo Tax.” Texas will receive more than $14 million in restitution for Texas consumers as part of a $141 million multistate settlement, which resolves an investigation begun over two years ago. Nearly 500,000 Texans will benefit from the settlement, whom Intuit misled into purchasing its tax products when they were already eligible to file their taxes for free. Eligible Texas consumers should begin […]
AG Paxton Brings 10th Border Crisis Lawsuit Against the Biden Administration
His Administration Cannot Unilaterally Rescind Title 42 and Open the Floodgates to Hundreds of Thousands More Illegal Aliens Attorney General Ken Paxton filed his 10th border crisis lawsuit against the Biden Administration—and the 26th overall against his lawless administration. Attorney General Paxton is challenging Biden’s unilateral rescission of Title 42, the highly effective Trump-era program that empowers federal authorities to rapidly expel aliens at the Texas-Mexico border. On April 1, Biden formally announced his plan […]
AG Paxton Joins Letter to GoFundMe Supporting Transparency in Charitable Giving
Attorney General Ken Paxton joined twenty-seven other attorneys general in a letter to GoFundMe expressing concern over the ambiguity and adequacy of GoFundMe’s terms of service. GoFundMe has claimed the ability to redirect donations made by users for activities or causes with which the company does not agree, but its terms of service are vague with respect to when it may stop, redirect, or reimburse a users’ donations without their express authorization. Before an online […]
AG Paxton Announces Win Against City of San Antonio for Violating SB4 by Refusing to Cooperate with Illegal Immigration Enforcement Efforts
Attorney General Paxton announced a settlement win in his lawsuit against the City of San Antonio, the San Antonio City Manager, and the City’s Chief of Police, brought to address their violations of Senate Bill 4 (SB4), Texas’s Anti-Sanctuary City law. The settlement includes a $300,000 payment by the City of San Antonio, changes to the City’s policing practices and policies to comply with SB4’s requirements, and a further agreement to retain the settlement in Travis County District Court so that General Paxton can monitor […]