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 Targets Criminals, Late Arrivals in Immigration Enforcement
The Department of Homeland Security will make prioritization key in its beefed-up enforcement of the border and the interior of the country—removing criminals first, while more recent arrivals will also face expedited removal. However, critics call it “mass deportation” that will face a legal challenge. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly released implementation memos to agencies… -
opinion
Why the Assault on Campus Free Speech Threatens Our Republic
It’s no secret that free speech is increasingly under threat on U.S. college campuses. A number of University of Chicago activist groups, including U of C Resist and UChicago Socialists, demanded that the university rescind its offer for Corey Lewandowski to speak on campus. In a letter sent to campus officials, students felt that any dialogue… -
opinion
The Real Crime in the Michael Flynn Saga
Washington is abuzz with the saga of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation, the Russia connection, and the melodrama of who knew what, when, and what they did about it. There are, to be sure, myriad aspects of this story that will consume the media, the Hill, civil society, and the like for a… -
opinion
The Truth About Sanctuary Cities and Crime Rates
If restricting local law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests is supposed to make communities safer, as some immigration advocates and law enforcement officials suggest, I’d like to hear them reconcile their beliefs with the actions of Texas’ Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez. Hernandez, sworn in as the newly elected… -
opinion
No Excuse for Congress Not to Pass Criminal Code Reforms So Innocent Americans Don’t Get Punished
Contrary to recent calumnies that “criminal justice reform is dead,” the 115th Congress has the means, backed up by bipartisan and public support, to continue its work to address problems in the federal criminal code. Only Congress can enact much-needed mens rea (Latin for “guilty mind”) reform and address overcriminalization, the overuse of criminal laws… -
opinion
How White Liberals Enable Crime in Black Communities
Ordinary black people cannot afford to go along with the liberal agenda that calls for undermining police authority. That agenda makes for more black crime victims. Let’s look at what works and what doesn’t work. In 1990, New York City adopted the practice in which its police officers might stop and question a pedestrian. If… -
news
Senate Confirms Jeff Sessions as Attorney General
The Senate voted 52-47 Wednesday night to confirm Jeff Sessions, a longtime U.S. senator and former federal prosecutor, as the nation’s 84th attorney general. Only one Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, joined Republicans in confirming Sessions, who voted “present.” Sessions, a Republican representing Alabama in the Senate since 1997, will take over a Justice… -
opinion
When Sending People to Jail, Criminal Intent Matters
Can a person go to jail for a crime that he had no intent to commit, and that the government admits he did not know would occur? Jack and Peter DeCoster, father and son executives of the Quality Egg business, have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider their jail sentences for a crime committed… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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,”… -
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…