My middle sister and I both attended Dallas’ famous magnet school at that time – Skyline High School, one of the largest magnet programs in the state. I had a ton of academic interests: I enjoyed my AP classes, was Editor-in-chief of the school Yearbook, was a cheerleader and went to State every year with the speech and debate team in Original Oratory. I graduated 9th out of 620 students in my class and won a full scholarship to UT Austin’s Journalism program.
I loved my time at UT and did not want to graduate, I still bleed orange to this very day. I was a Peer Advisor, a MICOM counselor, a Resident Advisor in Jester Dormitory for 3 years, and a Texas Angel - just to name a few of my interests while an undergraduate student. I did not know what I wanted to do — medical school or law school. So after graduation, I went to work for the Office of Attorney General in its Crime Victims’ Compensation Program, which was still in its infancy. My experience there solidified that I would attend law school and not medical school.
After graduation, I became a defense attorney, and spent 20 years defending people who have been accused of a crime. I took great pride in that work, and in my current work as judge of Austin’s Municipal Court. I am the proud mother of three young adults — two daughters and one son.
Precinct 5 is the smallest JP court, but the busiest and the most diverse. It encompasses a large student population and a large homeless population while also meeting the needs of our business and government sector. The downtown core is so active — we need a judge with experience who can hit the ground running.
Judicial Experience
In 2018, I was appointed as an Associate Judge of the Austin Municipal Court. In that role I also work as a Magistrate Judge for for Travis County. I took a job as Magistrate so I could learn from the bottom up what a judge in Travis County does. I work overnights, not the best schedule, some would argue it is the worst schedule, but I have been committed to learning our judicial system from the inside out.
I wanted to learn what a judge does and their role as it relates to law enforcement. I see people at one of the lowest points of their lives. This has given me some idea of what conditions are best for certain types of cases and how to balance a person’s due process rights of being innocent until proven guilty vs. the safety of the community.
I loved my time at UT and did not want to graduate, I still bleed orange to this very day. I was a Peer Advisor, a MICOM counselor, a Resident Advisor in Jester Dormitory for 3 years, and a Texas Angel - just to name a few of my interests while an undergraduate student. I did not know what I wanted to do — medical school or law school. So after graduation, I went to work for the Office of Attorney General in its Crime Victims’ Compensation Program, which was still in its infancy. My experience there solidified that I would attend law school and not medical school.
After graduation, I became a defense attorney, and spent 20 years defending people who have been accused of a crime. I took great pride in that work, and in my current work as judge of Austin’s Municipal Court. I am the proud mother of three young adults — two daughters and one son.
Precinct 5 is the smallest JP court, but the busiest and the most diverse. It encompasses a large student population and a large homeless population while also meeting the needs of our business and government sector. The downtown core is so active — we need a judge with experience who can hit the ground running.
Defense Attorney
I represented many indigent clients with pride as a member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. This work strengthened my belief that we must end the criminalization of poverty and ensure that defendants are not punished simply for being poor.
I also specialized in representing the mentally ill for more than 20 years. I saw firsthand how crime and untreated mental health problems sometimes intersect, and learned the role of our courts in rehabilitating folks who struggle with such issues.
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I am a servant leader, compassionate as a defense attorney and empathetic as a judge. If elected as judge of JP5 there will be no steep learning curve because of my criminal and civil experience both as an attorney and as a judge. I consider the other JP’s my partners in stabilizing our community and increasing the safety of our community.