Crime News
The Daily Signal reports on crime news with analysis and commentary on policies, crime rates, and policing debates.
-
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… -
opinion
New York City Will Fine You for Saying ‘Illegal Alien.’ That’s an Assault on the Constitution.
The propaganda, surveillance, and censorship of Big Brother in George Orwell’s novel “1984” has now arrived in New York. The city’s Commission on Human Rights recently released new legal enforcement guidelines that ban the use of the term “illegal alien” by employers, housing providers (including hotels), and law enforcement as “discriminatory.” Violators can be punished… -
news
Police Force Lifts Suspension for Officer Who Reported Illegal Alien to ICE
Police officials will allow an officer to return to duty after his suspension for turning an illegal alien over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Fairfax County, Virginia, police officer will return to work Friday following an update from the Fairfax County Police Department’s internal affairs division, according to a news release Wednesday from the department. The… -
opinion
Staying in Trump’s DC Hotel Does Not Equal Corruption. Here’s Another Possibility.
Why do so many international jet-setters, European diplomats, venture capitalists, and other well-heeled travelers stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.? Could it have anything to do with the fact that it’s just better than virtually every other hotel in town? Apparently, that thought has never crossed the minds of those who claim… -
news
Trump Calls It a ‘Scandal’ That Democrat Foe Helped Shape Whistleblower Complaint
President Donald Trump called the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee a “fraud” while offering rare praise of The New York Times in a contentious White House press conference in which he assailed the news media for dishonesty as Democrats’ impeachment inquiry advances. Minutes before the president spoke Wednesday, the Times reported that House Intelligence… -
news
Justice Department to Release Russia Probe Documents on Monthly Basis
The Justice Department will start releasing 500 pages of notes from witness interviews in the special counsel’s Russia probe each month, beginning Nov. 1. A Justice Department lawyer said at a court hearing that the agency has 800 witness interview transcripts, known as FD-302s, totaling more than 44,000 pages, CNN reported. CNN and BuzzFeed sued the… -
news
New York Threatens to Punish Those Who Say ‘Illegal Alien’ With $250K Fine
Those who use the term “illegal alien” in New York City will be hit with a fine as high as $250,000, the city’s human rights panel has determined. The move by the city’s Commission on Human Rights, its latest attempt to fight discrimination against illegal immigrants, is expected to face a quick court challenge based… -
news
Rep. Chris Collins Resigns Amid Insider Trading Scandal
Four-term Republican Rep. Chris Collins of New York has resigned from Congress, one day before he was expected to plead guilty to charges of insider trading. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “is in receipt of a letter of resignation” from Collins, which was to be made effective Tuesday morning when brought to the floor of the… -
opinion
College Admissions Scandal Ensnares 52nd Defendant and Counting
Fifty-two defendants and counting. That’s how many people have been indicted or otherwise charged in the college admissions and testing-bribery scandal. When the story first broke last spring, we wrote that the first round of indictments had to be the tip of the iceberg, because over time, those in the government crosshairs would sing like… -
opinion
DC Is Poised to Triple Down on Early Release of Violent Criminals
One defendant killed an innocent 7-year-old child. Another shot a 24-year-old mother in the back. Others kidnapped a woman, held her in the back of a stolen van, and repeatedly gang-raped her. These and about 583 other violent offenders—including murderers, rapists, and child molesters—could soon be let out of prison if Charles Allen, a D.C. Council member,… -
news
Union Scandal Coincides With GM Auto Workers Strike
Resolving the strike against General Motors that began Monday may be harder because of an internal corruption scandal inside the United Auto Workers. The strike officially began at midnight, when tens of thousands of workers walked off the factory floors of the multinational automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit. Vance Pearson, 58, the UAW’s Region… -
opinion
Justice Demands Former FBI Official McCabe Should Be Prosecuted
Former FBI Deputy Director and Acting Director Andrew McCabe deserves to be prosecuted on charges of lying to investigators. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has rejected a request by McCabe to block such a prosecution, Fox News reported Thursday after U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie Liu recommended prosecuting McCabe. This is the right decision by Rosen… -
opinion
North Carolina Is Tackling Crimes Run Amok. Congress Should Take Notes.
North Carolina is taking its overcriminalization problem seriously. With overwhelming bipartisan support, the state last month enacted Senate Bill 584, which allows the legislature to rein in runaway regulatory crimes. Like the federal government, North Carolina’s regulatory agencies are overzealously creating regulatory crimes. These are crimes defined by executive branch agencies pursuant to authority delegated…