Legal News
Reports on lawmaking, constitutional issues, and court cases. The Daily Signal combines news reporting with conservative commentary and legal analysis.
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news
Alito Makes Announcement About His Future
THE DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said that he will not step down if Democrats take back the Senate, according to a Bloomberg Law interview published Tuesday. Alito dismissed speculation that he would retire if Democrats won back the Senate after the midterm elections, which would allow President Donald Trump to appoint… -
opinion
‘So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country’
Justice Samuel A. Alito’s new book “So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country” is not a conventional judicial memoir—and that is precisely its strength. This carefully curated collection of 19 lectures and speeches, delivered between 2007 and 2025, offers something rarer than autobiography: a sustained encounter with the mind… -
news
Supreme Court Justices Cite ‘Wall of Precedent’ Against Boulder Climate Lawfare
Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Monday of Boulder County’s claims that the energy company Suncor caused the county concrete harm by contributing to global climate change in a case that could open the floodgates of climate lawfare across the country. “If Boulder’s claims are allowed to go forward, some 90,000 municipalities across the country will… -
opinion
The Pocket-Rescission Dispute Needs to Go to Court
The Trump administration has again proposed end-of-year rescissions to cancel appropriations for wasteful Washington spending. In response, the Government Accountability Office has taken its strongest stand yet in defense of the Congress’ authority to force the executive branch to imprudently spend taxpayer dollars, finding that the proposed rescissions subvert “both the constitutional process for enacting… -
news
FBI Tracked Susie Wiles Phone, Email Communications With Journalists, Lawyers, Political Advisors, New Documents Show
Former special counsel Jack Smith monitored the phone communications of Susie Wiles when she was Donald Trump’s campaign chief in 2024, newly released documents show. This included her communications with at least five journalists, 21 different defense attorneys, and several political advisers. Smith’s team obtained the information through what is called a pen register, sometimes… -
opinion
No, Justice Thomas Hasn’t Damaged the Reputation of the Supreme Court
Juan Williams calls Justice Clarence Thomas‘ place in history tragic. His argument rests on two sweeping claims: that Thomas is at the heart of a historic decline in public trust in the Supreme Court, and that he has damaged trust in black conservatives as a source of ideas about race. Those are serious accusations. They… -
news
Biden Judge Calls It ‘Constitutional Bedrock’ to Oppose Federal Ban on Noncitizen Voting
A Biden-appointed judge ruled that Congress cannot ban noncitizens from voting, striking down federal charges against an illegal alien alleged to have voted in multiple federal elections in Florida. U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz of the Southern District of Florida ruled that the Constitution only gives power to the states to regulate elections. Thus, he… -
news
Supreme Court to Hear Arguments in More Illegal Immigration, Religious Freedom Cases
The Supreme Court announced Thursday it will consider a case on the detention of illegal immigrants, as well as a case touching on religious liberty. In the case of Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, justices will decide whether federal law requires the detention of illegal aliens pending their removal proceedings. The Trump administration targets illegal… -
opinion
What Could the Supreme Court Say About the Ten Commandments in Schools?
The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to decide an issue that could be one of the most watched of the coming court term. In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit lifted the injunction against a Louisiana law requiring a Ten Commandments display in public school classrooms. In April, the same… -
news
‘Creating a One-Party System’: Conservatives Warn of Consequences and Need to Counter Left’s Weaponization of Legal System
Conservatives are pushing back against the Left’s effort to discipline lawyers for the clients they represent, in what is being called “barfare,” with threats of disbarment or other actions. During a conference Wednesday near Capitol Hill on the topic, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., praised the effort to fight back. “We need smart people who have… -
opinion
Jack Smith’s Media Dragnet Gets a Pass From Legacy Press
One of the biggest government attacks on free press occurred under a presidential administration and the legacy media have collectively shrugged. Why? Because it was carried out by a Democrat administration and not President Donald Trump. It’s that simple. On Tuesday, former special counsel Jack Smith—who served under former President Joe Biden—testified before the Senate… -
news
Federal Judge Asks Pro-Transgender Lawyer About Double Standard on Cosmetic Surgery
A man who identifies as a woman sued Aetna for refusing to cover his transgender facial surgery, claiming discrimination, even though Aetna says it would not cover cosmetic procedures for a woman who suffers distress from not looking feminine enough. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit heard oral… -
news
Jack Smith Scooped Up Reporters’ Phone Data in Trump Probe: ‘Massive First Amendment Breach’
Conservative media outlets pushed back after revelations that former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigators obtained communications from nearly 50 journalists at more than a dozen media outlets on both the right and the left. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, revealed the information Tuesday. The Senate Judiciary Committee previously exposed that Smith and the Justice… -
news
Supreme Court Move Could Have Major Consequences for Trump Deportation Policy
The Supreme Court lifted the injunction against deporting illegal immigrants to a country other than their country of origin, known as sending them to a “third country,” and announced it will hear a case on the Trump administration’s policy. The case, D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security, is about whether the government can deport illegal… -
news
Ten Commandments, Deportations, and Gun Rights: Supreme Court Choosing America’s Next Legal Battles
The Ten Commandments, the deep state, detention of illegal immigrants, and more Second Amendment questions could be on the Supreme Court’s docket early next year, as justices gather this week to determine what cases make the cut. Justices first met Monday for what is called a “long conference” to sift through cases submitted over the… -
news
Trans Organization’s ‘Unreliable’ Standards Don’t Justify Prison Medical Interventions, DOJ Tells Supreme Court
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow the Bureau of Prisons to restrict sex-rejecting procedures for federal inmates, citing an exhaustive bureau report rejecting the recommendations of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health as “unreliable” and based on “insufficient evidence.” Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to lift… -
news
Alito Steps Aside in Supreme Court Climate Showdown After Left-Wing Groups Question His Energy Investments
Justice Samuel Alito has recused himself from an environmental case set to be argued on Monday before the Supreme Court, months after left-leaning groups accused him of a potential conflict. In the case of Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, the question before the court involves the use of state tort laws… -
news
High Court Rejects Missouri Congressional Map in Blow to GOP House Hopes
The Supreme Court rejected a mid-decade congressional redistricting map in Missouri amid the continuing gerrymandering wars in the lead-up to the 2026 midterms. In a setback for Republicans, Missouri will have to use the map drawn in 2022 and used in the 2022 and 2024 elections. The maps could have a major impact on who… -
opinion
The Supreme Court Should Slam the Door on Climate Lawfare
Climate change will soon arrive before the U.S. Supreme Court, and with it the progressive Left’s most ambitious effort yet to impose Green New Deal socialism on an unwilling public. Dozens of blue states and affluent hippie towns are demanding tens of billions of dollars from U.S. energy companies for alleged climate harms. These audacious lawsuits,… -
breaking
Supreme Court Hands Trump Major Victory in Drive to Combat Noncitizen Voting
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Department of Homeland Security to continue its citizenship verification program. In a 6-3 shadow docket ruling in the case of DHS v. League of Women Voters, the justices allowed the Trump administration to expand the program that allows states to use Social Security records and other information to…