Crime News
The Daily Signal reports on crime news with analysis and commentary on policies, crime rates, and policing debates.
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- Opinion
Why Economic Freedom Is a Proven Antidote to the Scourge of Human Trafficking
In a recent op-ed essay for The Washington Post, first daughter Ivanka Trump made a powerful case for the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to combat the evil of human trafficking. “The United States is an extraordinarily generous nation, but [the Trump] administration will no longer use taxpayer dollars to support governments that consistently fail to…Anthony B. Kim -
- Opinion
Criminal Justice Reform Bill to Change a System More Criminal Than Just
Republicans and conservatives dating back at least to Richard Nixon have used the slogan “tough on crime” and its corollary “lock ’em up and throw away the key” as electoral red meat. The problem is what to do when inmates are released with few skills, fewer job prospects, and a bleak future that leads some…Cal Thomas -
- News
Senate Passes Trump-Backed Criminal Justice Reform Bill
The U.S. Senate passed a criminal justice reform bill backed by President Donald Trump on the Senate floor Tuesday night. The bill, titled the “First Step Act,” includes both prison and sentencing reforms, in which many Republicans had been pushing to pass before Democrats take control of the House on Jan. 3. The vote was 87-12. One failed amendment in the bill…Henry Rodgers -
- Opinion
The Next Congress Should Do Some Spring (Criminal Code) Cleaning
Have you ever asked yourself how many federal criminal laws there are on the books in this country? Perhaps not, as that might be a question only criminal law scholars and lawyers ask themselves. But it is an interesting inquiry, because nobody knows the answer. That’s right. No one—not even the federal government—is certain of…Jonathan Zalewski -
- News
Justice Department Investigators Unable to Find Peter Strzok’s Text Messages During Mueller Probe, Report Says
Department of Justice investigators were unable to recover text messages Peter Strzok and Lisa Page sent during their short tenure on the special counsel’s investigation, according to a report released Thursday by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General. According to the inspector general report, iPhones issued by the Special Counsel’s Office to Strzok and Page…Chuck Ross -
- Opinion
Not All in Prison Are Hardened Criminals. We Need to Offer Rehabilitation Possibilities.
What parent hopes their child will grow up to be a career criminal? What child dreams of one day living behind the bars of one of America’s 102 federal prisons? Going to prison is a nightmare, not a dream. And it’s become a terrible reality for many. Today, more than 2.4 million people are confined…Kay C. James -
- News
How 1 State Fared After Enacting the Criminal Justice Reforms Trump Wants to Implement Nationally
Mississippi implemented its second round of criminal justice reforms this year after touting the successes of a previous package in 2014. The first installment focused on sentencing, addiction and mental health treatment, and job skills for when inmates leave prison. State officials point to lower crime, fewer inmates, and savings for taxpayers as signs of…Fred Lucas -
- News
Illegal Immigrant Arrested for Murder Was Previously Deported at Least 8 Times
An illegal immigrant arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a co-worker in Oregon is discovered to have been deported at least eight times. Deciderio Vargas-Ortiz, 52, was arrested for the alleged murder of Renee Luis-Antonio. The two worked together at a creamery in Milton-Freewater, Oregon—a town in the northeastern part of the state—and reportedly had a long-running…Jason Hopkins -
- Opinion
Its Critics Are Wrong. There’s No ‘Loophole’ in the ‘First Step’ Criminal Justice Reform Bill.
Fred Barnes has expressed concerns over the proposed First Step Act and a supposed “loophole” in it that would give “shortened sentences” to dangerous criminals. Barnes, the executive editor of the center-right Weekly Standard magazine, is incorrect on several counts about this substantive criminal justice reform bill. First, the provision that Barnes thinks may be…John G. Malcolm -
- Opinion
John Allen Chau’s Crime Was Wanting to Promote ‘Wrong’ Beliefs
“Hey hey, ho ho, Western culture’s got to go.” Those words, chanted by Stanford students in a march led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1987, seem to have won the day, based on the reactions generated by the death of Christian missionary John Allen Chau. Chau, who died during an attempt to evangelize a…Katrina Trinko -
- Opinion
Here’s What Opponents of Criminal Justice Reform Get Wrong
Some arguments against the modest prison and sentencing reforms in the Senate’s First Step Act echo an influential claim from the 1970s attributed to the late sociologist Robert Martinson: When it comes to reducing recidivism rates among inmates, “nothing works.” Once taken out of its original context, that claim resounded in legislatures across the country…John-Michael Seibler -
- Opinion
Right Side of History: Revisiting Scandals of the Clinton Era With Ken Starr
“The Right Side of History” is a podcast dedicated to exploring current events through a historical lens and busting left-wing myths about figures and events of America’s past. On this week’s episode, hosts Jarrett Stepman and Fred Lucas discuss the Clinton era with Ken Starr, the lead investigator of the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
States Show ‘First Step Act’ Is Pro-Cop, Pro-Borders, and Pro-Criminal Justice Reform
The package of criminal justice reform proposals endorsed by President Donald Trump is not “soft” on crime. It’s tough on injustice. And it’s about time. Known as the “First Step Act,” the legislation confronts the titanic failure of the federal government’s trillion-dollar war on drugs by reforming mandatory minimum sentences, rectifying unscientifically grounded disparities in…Michelle Malkin -
- Opinion
How This Criminal Justice Reform Bill Could Make Our Neighborhoods Safer
Do you want the federal inmates released in your neighborhood to be better people, or the same, or possibly worse, than when they entered prison? That’s the key question to ask yourself as you weigh the First Step Act, a bill that would attempt to reduce the currently high rates at which federal inmates reoffend…Joe Luppino-Esposito -
- Opinion
Trump Is Leading the Way on Conservative Criminal Justice Reform. Here’s the Proposal.
This past May, the Trump administration’s leadership on meaningful, conservative criminal justice reform helped the House to pass the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person (or First Step) Act by a vote of 360 to 59. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced his support for the Senate’s amended version of the First…John G. Malcolm -
- News
Justice Department Memo Says Whitaker Appointment Is Legal
The Department of Justice issued an advisory opinion confirming the legality of Matthew Whitaker’s appointment as acting attorney general Wednesday, as legal authorities across the ideological spectrum suggested the move violated a federal statute and the Constitution. The memo, prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel, reveals that the Justice Department previously counseled President Donald Trump on…Kevin Daley -
- News
12 Potential Trump Nominees for Attorney General
Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned Wednesday, creating a vacancy in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet and the opportunity to confirm a new leader at the Department of Justice. The question facing Trump is whom he might pick as the next attorney general. The Heritage Foundation’s John Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government and…Troy Worden -
- News
12 Times Florida County’s Elections Supervisor Has Been ‘Incompetent and Possibly Criminal’
As both parties scrutinize the vote count in Florida’s Broward County, with the state’s gubernatorial and senatorial races closing in on a tie, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said the county’s elections office has a history of malfeasance. “This is at a minimum a pattern of incompetence. Voters deserve better,” the Florida Republican said Thursday on “Tucker Carlson…Luke Rosiak -
- Opinion
Jeff Sessions Put the Justice Department Back on Course
There is no question that Attorney General Jeff Sessions—who was fired Wednesday—had a rocky relationship with President Donald Trump, tied to Sessions’ recusal from the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. But Sessions’ firing on orders of Trump should not diminish the fact that…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
Democrats Protest Trump’s Naming Critic of Mueller Probe as Acting Attorney General
With Jeff Sessions’ resignation Wednesday as attorney general, Democrats immediately began attacking his interim replacement. President Donald Trump tapped Sessions’ chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, to be acting attorney general. Sessions, a former Alabama senator and early Trump supporter who angered the president by recusing…Fred Lucas