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
Acting Attorney General’s Defiance of Trump Shows Politicized Nature of DOJ
The kerfuffle on Monday night over former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates’ statement criticizing President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring better screening of travelers from failed countries that are the biggest sources of terrorists in the world shows the difference between a Justice Department guided by politics versus the rule of law. In the statement…Hans von Spakovsky -
- Opinion
Court Checks Overreach by Obama Justice Department in Mail Fraud Case
Courts have begun to restrain the growing scope of federal criminal law in certain areas, which often overlap with state laws. Several recent cases have checked the government for overstepping its bounds. A federal court of appeals recently reviewed a case involving federal government overreaching through the criminal law. The government alleged that former Massachusetts…David Rosenthal -
- News
Trump DOJ Likely to Find Many Offenses in Voter Fraud Probe, Experts Say
President Donald Trump’s Justice Department will likely find numerous offenses to warrant launching a broad investigation into voter fraud, legal experts and watchdog groups say. Trump has said that more than 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast during the 2016 election, causing him to receive a lower popular vote total than his…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Trump’s Bold Approach to Crime Will Lift Inner Cities
On Nov. 8, America elected a president with vastly different views on crime from former President Barack Obama. The Obama administration’s views on crime and police undercut local law enforcement and left vulnerable some of the nation’s most crime-ridden communities. The Trump administration can help to reverse these trends. In his farewell speech delivered in…John-Michael Seibler -
- News
Ukraine’s Former Top Spy Goes After a New Enemy: Corruption
KYIV, Ukraine—Ukraine’s former top security official has gone from tracking down Russian spies to fighting what he perceives to be the country’s greatest threat—corruption. “The question is, are we going to survive or not?” Valentyn Nalyvaichenko told The Daily Signal from his offices in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. Nalyvaichenko, 50, is the former head of the…Nolan Peterson -
- Opinion
How a Jeff Sessions Justice Department Can Change Course on Crime
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ two-day marathon confirmation hearing left Americans with many takeaways—some on his many qualifications for the office of United States attorney general to which President-elect Donald Trump has nominated him, and others on the merit, or lack thereof, of his opposition. In the weeks leading up to this hearing, opponents in Congress…John-Michael Seibler -
- Opinion
The Real Reason for the Left’s All-Out Assault on Jeff Sessions
Observers of this week’s confirmation hearings for the post of U.S. attorney general might think it odd to see Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., rewind the clock to a single voter fraud case from the 1980s. Under persistent questioning, Sessions has had to defend his decision to prosecute a case of brazen voter fraud—something that was…J. Christian Adams -
- Opinion
How the Left’s Narrative on Crime Makes Communities Worse Off
The FBI reported that the total number of homicides in 2015 was 15,696. Blacks were about 52 percent of homicide victims. That means about 8,100 black lives were ended violently, and over 90 percent of the time, the perpetrator was another black. Listening to the news media and the Black Lives Matter movement, one would…Walter E. Williams -
- Opinion
Sessions Is a Highly Qualified Pick for Attorney General
Thomas Jefferson, in his first inaugural address as president in 1801, deemed “equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political” one of the essential principles of our government. President-elect Donald Trump has demonstrated his intent to uphold this principle by nominating Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to serve as…Timothy Head -
- Opinion
California’s Embarrassing Hire of a Failed Attorney General to Take on Trump
The California Legislature is hiring former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to represent the state in expected fights with the new Trump administration over environmental, immigration, and criminal justice issues. But based on Holder’s track record, don’t expect to see California racking up legal victories. Although nobody is questioning the skills of the attorneys at…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
Trump’s Pick for Attorney General Prosecuted These Civil Rights Cases
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., spent a considerable amount of his time as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama pressing civil rights lawsuits. He also assisted local prosecutors in a case that helped wipe out the Ku Klux Klan in the state. “All I’ve seen from Jeff Sessions is that he has followed law,”…Fred Lucas -
- News
Leading Critic of Trump’s Attorney General Pick Withdrew Accusation in 1986
A vocal opponent of confirming Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as U.S. attorney general recanted part of his critical testimony 30 years ago against Sessions being confirmed as a federal judge. “My recollection on this matter has now been refreshed,” @GerryHebert says. J. Gerald Hebert, a former Justice Department lawyer, made racially charged allegations against Sessions…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
No, Jeff Sessions as Attorney General Won’t Mean Criminal Justice Reform Is Dead
Media and advocacy groups have claimed that President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to be our next U.S. attorney general has killed criminal justice reform. But those naysayers have forgotten their history and the nature of federalism. In 2001, it was not a Democrat but Sessions who introduced measured sentencing legislation to…John-Michael Seibler -
- Opinion
The Trump Administration Should Crack Down on Silly Rules That Carry Criminal Penalties
President-elect Donald Trump’s “Contract with the American Voter” pledges that “for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated.” This should be celebrated by the majority of Americans who think the federal government does too much. At the outset of this regulatory unwinding, one potential priority stands out above the others. The Trump…John-Michael Seibler -
- Opinion
Widespread Coverage of Liberal Hate Crimes ‘Study’ Shows Media’s Fake News Problem
So much for taking America’s “fake news” problem seriously. Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, there’s been an abundance of hand-wringing over the “fake news” that supposedly is rampant on social media. Yet missing has been any kind of serious searching among the mainstream media about whether it could learn any lessons from this…Katrina Trinko -
- Opinion
Elections Bring New Opportunities to Consider Pitfalls of Overcriminalization
As politicians, lawyers, and policy wonks prepare for transition at both the federal and state levels, new administrations are already setting their agendas for their upcoming terms. One problem that leaders on both sides of the aisle would be well-served to address is overcriminalization. Overcriminalization is the misuse of criminal law to punish seemingly every…David Rosenthal -
- Opinion
The Slow March to Rooting Out Corruption in Guinea
Corruption in the small West African nation of Guinea is pervasive. Bribery is an everyday reality, and it is often the key to securing lucrative contracts and business licenses. It should come as no surprise, then, that the vast majority of Guineans live in poverty, despite the country being rich in natural resources. In the…James M. Roberts -
- News
Obama’s DOJ Fines Police Department $10K for Refusing to Hire Noncitizens
Denver County’s sheriff office has been slapped with a fine by the Department of Justice because it refused to hire noncitizens as deputies. From the beginning of 2015 through last March, the Denver Sheriff Department went on a major hiring binge, adding more than 200 new deputies. But those jobs ended up only going to citizens,…Blake Neff -
- Opinion
ISIS Social Media Campaign Falters Under Military Assault
Military advances against Islamic State-, or ISIS, held territory in Iraq and Syria have produced a welcome byproduct: a marked decline by 70-80 percent in the output of social media propaganda by the terror group. ISIS fighters were recently chased out of the Syrian village of Dabiq by Syrian rebel forces without offering much resistance…Helle Dale -
- News
9 Controversies Obama Didn’t Mention When He Denied Any ‘Major Scandals’
President Barack Obama discarded eight years of controversies surrounding his administration, including the targeting of conservative groups, veterans lacking health care, the administration’s response to a terrorist attack weeks before the 2012 election, and a botched gun sting. During a Democratic fundraising event in San Diego Sunday, Obama attacked Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the former…Fred Lucas