Crime News
The Daily Signal reports on crime news with analysis and commentary on policies, crime rates, and policing debates.
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news
Trump Administration Aims to Make Fewer Criminal Aliens Eligible for Asylum
The Trump administration is proposing to bar foreign nationals convicted of drunk driving, gang-related crime, illegal reentry, and other illicit activity from winning asylum protection in the United States. The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced a proposal to expand the crimes that would disqualify a migrant from claiming… -
news
Watchdog: FBI Should Have Considered Shutting Down Trump Campaign Probe
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said Wednesday that the FBI should have considered shutting down its investigation and surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page much earlier than the bureau did, because the probe was not yielding any evidence that he was working as a Russian agent. “If you’re getting information that isn’t advancing… -
news
‘This Will Protect Criminals’: Homeland Security Blasts New York Law Allowing Illegal Aliens to Get Driver’s Licenses
The Department of Homeland Security rebuked a New York law that took effect Monday allowing illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses. The state’s “Green Light” bill, which Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed in June, makes it possible to apply for a driver’s license without a Social Security number, and makes foreign documentation valid for the… -
opinion
Lawmakers Urge Justice Department to Start Enforcing Porn Laws
If you’re indifferent about the crisis of pornography, The New York Times can change that—almost instantly. The paper jolted an entire nation into caring last year with its jarring exposé, “What Teenagers Are Learning From Online Porn” (warning: extremely graphic). What kids think is normal will shock and sober you. Because these aren’t Playboy magazines stashed under… -
news
Some Trump Defenders Seek Senate Testimony From Hunter Biden, Adam Schiff
House Republicans sought to get a minority hearing to call their own witnesses during the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, as was done in previous such processes. House Democrats, in the majority, rejected the proposal. That’s among the reasons many in the GOP were disappointed when Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox… -
opinion
Podcast: Alaska Attorney General Talks Workers’ Rights
Two years ago, the Supreme Court handed down a major ruling in the Janus decision. That decision freed up public-sector workers from having to pay unions against their will. But since then, a lot of states haven’t been complying—and unions have fought back. Alaska is leading the charge in the opposite direction—bringing its state into… -
news
6 Big Takeaways From Watchdog’s Senate Testimony About FBI Spying on Trump Campaign
The Justice Department’s inspector general, appearing Wednesday before a Senate committee, explained his findings of 17 inaccuracies and omissions by FBI agents in seeking a secret court’s approval to spy on a Trump campaign aide. Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report, released Monday, concluded that the Obama administration’s FBI failed to follow regular safeguards in obtaining… -
opinion
IG’s Report Reveals 4 Spurious Allegations as Basis for FBI Spying on Trump Campaign Aide
A shocking report by the Justice Department’s inspector general lays bare the FBI’s “serious performance failures” in conducting a counterintelligence operation in 2016 against the Trump campaign. Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s 434-page report details numerous mistakes, errors, and omissions by FBI personnel in four applications for special warrants to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter… -
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…