Crime News
The Daily Signal reports on crime news with analysis and commentary on policies, crime rates, and policing debates.
-
news
Lawmakers Call on Attorney General to Enforce Anti-Obscenity Laws, Make Good on Trump’s Campaign Pledge
Four Republicans lawmakers are calling on Attorney General William Barr to enforce federal anti-obscenity laws and to crack down on hardcore pornography. Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Brian Babin of Texas, Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, and Jim Banks of Indiana sent a letter to Barr, urging him to enforce anti-obscenity laws that they say… -
news
6 Takeaways From the IG Report on FBI’s Spying on Trump Campaign
The Justice Department’s in-house watchdog released a 476-page report Monday that criticizes some of the FBI’s actions in beginning an investigation of the Trump campaign’s connection with Russian election meddling, but does not concludes that political bias drove the agency’s probe. Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report does answer many questions and verifies some suspicions about… -
news
DOJ Watchdog Finds ‘Significant Inaccuracies’ in Surveillance Warrants Against Trump Aide
The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General found “significant inaccuracies” in the FBI’s applications for warrants to conduct surveillance against a Trump campaign adviser, according to a report released Monday. Michael Horowitz, the inspector general, said that the FBI’s decision to open investigations against Trump campaign advisers in July 2016, as well as to… -
opinion
Marriage and Pregnancy Reduce Crime
There’s a general assumption in public policy discourse that economic policy and social policy are separate universes. When economic policy is the topic, we think about taxes, government spending, business, jobs, etc. When social policy is the topic, we think about marriage, family, children, abortion, etc. But, in reality, the line between economic policy and… -
opinion
Are Thought Crimes Impeachable?
During special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, his legal “dream team” tried to make a secondary case that Donald Trump also obstructed efforts to prove Trump-Russian “collusion.” Trump was said to have advised his lawyers and other subordinates, past and present, not to cooperate fully with the Mueller investigation. Yet the special counsel did not pursue… -
news
4 Big Questions About the IG Report on FBI Surveillance of Trump Campaign
An internal watchdog’s report on Justice Department surveillance of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign is slated to arrive in early December—about the same time as a likely House vote on whether to impeach the president. “Now what you’re going to see, I predict, will be perhaps the biggest scandal in the history of our country,”… -
opinion
The Left’s Revealing Overreaction to Attorney General Barr’s Landmark Speech
Watching the hysterical reaction of the radical left—such as Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post—to Attorney General William Barr’s thoughtful, well-reasoned, important speech at the Federalist Society convention on the constitutional doctrine of the unitary executive is like history repeating itself. Liberals had the same overreaction to then-Attorney General Edwin Meese’s 1985 speech to the… -
opinion
Impeachment Evidence Not Even Close to Bribery, Heritage Legal Expert Says
As impeachment hearings draw to a close, witnesses have failed to produce hard evidence of wrongdoing on the part of President Donald Trump. Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky will join the podcast to unpack what we learned this week—and what to expect going forward. Read a lightly edited transcript of the interview,… -
news
Impeachment Inquiry Is ‘a Trial in Search of a Crime,’ Rep. Jody Hice Says
“They are searching for every haystack they can possibly find in hopes that there’s a needle somewhere that they can bring forward and say, ‘A-ha, we have something to impeach him,’” says Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga. “And the American people are seeing it for what it is.” Read the lightly edited transcript of the interview,… -
news
Nearly 80,000 Illegal Aliens Had Arrest Records Before Winning DACA Approval
Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who successfully enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program carried prior arrest records, according to data released by the Trump administration. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services—the agency under the Department of Homeland Security that is tasked with managing the country’s legal immigration system—released a report Saturday detailing the arrest… -
news
4 Things to Know About Republican Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s First Black Attorney General
When he takes office on Dec. 10, Daniel Cameron will make history as Kentucky’s first-ever African American attorney general and its first Republican to hold the office since 1948. Winning 57.8% of the vote on Nov. 5, Cameron trounced his opponent, former Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo, who was seeking a return to the office… -
opinion
Justices Should Reject Criminal Alien’s Appeal of Deportation Order
The Supreme Court on Nov. 4 heard oral arguments in an immigration case that could have a dramatic impact on how many criminal aliens plaguing our communities finally get deported. The case, Barton v. Barr, is complicated, in large part because the statutes involved are vague and subject to various interpretations. That prompted Justice Stephen… -
news
‘Clear Public Safety Threat’: ICE Rips Sanctuary County for Releasing Illegal Alien Convicted for Deadly Crash
Officials in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, refused to honor an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer placed on an illegal alien convicted in a deadly drunk driving accident, opting instead to release him back into the community. ICE placed a detainer request on Jose Barajas-Diaz, a Mexican national living illegally in the U.S., a day after… -
opinion
The Left’s Dangerous Assault on Free Speech
Strange days, indeed, when America’s free press opposes free speech. “Free speech is killing us,” headlined a New York Times op-ed. Its author, New Yorker staff writer Andrew Marantz, argued that “hate speech” leads to violence. Worse, he claims it can cause totalitarianism and even genocide. To avoid this fate, Marantz says we must rethink the First Amendment, which would include government… -
news
New Revelation on Hunter Biden Surfaces as Impeachment Probe Expands Beyond Trump Phone Call
House Democrats’ impeachment narrative appears to have veered away from President Donald Trump’s alleged push for information on former Vice President Joe Biden even as a State Department official breathed new life into the controversy over the business dealings in Ukraine of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. “This is not just a phone call anymore,” former… -
opinion
Justice Department Crushes Global Porn Network
“Do not upload adult porn.” That was the stomach-turning warning from one of the most heinous child pornography sites on the dark web. Thanks to the Department of Justice, that horrible corner of cyberspace was just the target of an international takedown—a victory months in the making. “According to the indictment we’re unsealing today,” U.S…. -
news
Texas Officer Aaron Dean Charged With Murder After Killing Black Woman in Her Home
A Fort Worth, Texas, police officer resigned and now faces charges after shooting a woman in her own home, Fort Worth Police Chief Edwin Kraus told reporters Monday. Officer Aaron Dean, who is white, shot and killed 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson, who is black, at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday while she was looking after her 8-year-old… -
opinion
These Gun Owners Were Able to Confront Criminals in September
When the Virginia State Crime Commission and the House Judiciary Committee held hearings earlier this fall regarding firearm policies, it was striking how little many gun control advocates and policymakers know about basic facts related to guns and gun violence. It also was clear how devastating many of their policy proposals would be for law-abiding… -
opinion
8th Circuit Heeds Calls for Criminal Law Reform
For years now, Heritage Foundation scholars have argued that, absent extraordinary circumstances, criminal liability should require proof of criminal intent. At least one court has taken notice. In an opinion issued on Sept. 16, a majority of a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that when a statute doesn’t say whether… -
opinion
A Mom Fights for Justice After Her Daughter Claims a Gender Fluid Child Assaulted Her in Bathroom
Does the transgender ideology pose dangers to school children? Vernadette Broyles is a lawyer representing a girl who claims she was sexually assaulted as a 5-year-old after her school allowed a transgender child to start using the bathroom of the opposite sex. Read the lightly edited interview, posted below, or listen on the podcast: We…