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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- Opinion
Lawfare Isn’t Beaten—in France or America
Elections are supposed to be decided at the ballot box, not in the courtroom—unless you’re French or, in this country, a liberal. What a judge in France has just done by disqualifying Marine Le Pen from running in that nation’s next presidential election is what Democrats dream of doing here. The controversial populist was ahead…Daniel McCarthy -
- News
Progressives Keep Wisconsin Supreme Court; More Democrat US House Seats Likely
Wisconsin residents voted on Tuesday to elect Susan Crawford as the next member of their state supreme court, according to the Associated Press, which declared Crawford the winner. The vote will put the liberals in charge of the state’s highest court during a time when the court’s decisions on congressional redistricting in the state could…Jacob Adams -
- Opinion
It’s All Lawfare: Everyone but the Cronies Get Cheated, Mistreated by Big Government
Not to get all Old World on you, but the Oxford Dictionary defines “lawfare” thusly: “Legal action undertaken in order to exert power or control, esp. as part of a hostile campaign against a particular country or group.” In New World parlance? Author Malcolm Feeley in 1979 published a tome with a title that best…Seton Motley -
- News
Euro-Lawfare? France Bans Nationalist Candidate From Running for Office
A French court banned the leader of France’s conservative nationalist party—Marine Le Pen—from running for public office for the next five years after her embezzlement conviction. Le Pen lost the 2022 French presidential election to current President Emmanuel Macron. The sentence, which also includes a partially suspended four-year prison sentence, disqualifies her from running for…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Reconsiders Constitutionality of Agency Policymaking
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case testing the limits of the nondelegation doctrine, an issue that may sound lawyerly, but which is of the utmost importance in ensuring separation among the federal branches and accountability for the important decisions that affect us all. Nondelegation is the principle that one branch of…Jack Fitzhenry -
- Opinion
Abraham Lincoln Charted a Course for Trump on Judicial Overreach, Josh Hammer Says
President Donald Trump faces a bevy of district court judges issuing restraining orders and injunctions blocking his executive actions, and Josh Hammer suggests the president take a leaf out of Abraham Lincoln’s book on the issue. Trump has responded to the orders with calls for Congress to impeach lower court judges or restrain them in…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Key Redistricting Case
THE CENTER SQUARE—The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a critical case regarding Louisiana’s redrawn congressional districts on Monday. The state is defending the existing map and plaintiffs seek an overturn on grounds of racial gerrymander. The case could be pivotal as justices could examine the criteria required of state legislatures under the Voting…Steve Wilson -
- Opinion
Trump Racking Up Important Legal Victories as Left’s Lawfare Ramps Up
The Left couldn’t defeat President Donald Trump at the ballot box. Now, their only hope seems to be defeating him at the courthouse. More than 130 cases have been filed against the Trump administration since Trump’s return to office just two months ago. With the help of activist federal judges, the Left’s large-scale lawfare operation…Bradley Devlin -
- News
Supreme Court to Decide if States Can Withhold Medicaid Funding From Planned Parenthood
The Supreme Court could soon strike a blow to America’s largest abortion provider. Amid growing concerns about the quality of care at Planned Parenthood facilities and the fact that taxpayer funding is going to facilities that provide abortions, the Supreme Court could effectively decide whether states can withhold taxpayer dollars from the organization in an…Moira Gleason -
- News
DOJ Reviewing Lawfare Case of Colorado Election Clerk Tina Peters
The Department of Justice announced in a March 3 court filing that it will conduct a “review” of Colorado’s prosecution of Tina Peters, the former Mesa County election clerk convicted in connection with her efforts to prove election software had been tampered with in the 2020 election. Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser is none too…Al Perrotta -
- News
Counselor Fights to Advise Minors Against Gender Transition in Supreme Court Case
When Erin Brewer was 6 years old, she and her older brother were accosted by two grown men. She was raped. Her brother was not. Brewer called herself a boy for the next several years because, she said, she felt vulnerable as a girl. She wore her brother’s hand-me-downs, used the boys bathroom at…Moira Gleason -
- Opinion
3 Reasons Elon Musk and George Soros Are Fighting It Out in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Race
The Wisconsin Supreme Court race on April 1 may be technically nonpartisan, but it is already shaping up to be a battle between two billionaires with incompatible political worldviews: Elon Musk and George Soros. The race appears on track to become the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history. Democrats have spent almost $18 million…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Justice Alito Slams Majority for Failing to Rein in ‘Judicial Hubris’ Against Trump Admin
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Justice Samuel Alito wrote Wednesday that he is “stunned” by the majority’s failure to call out a lower court’s “judicial hubris” in the case considering the Trump administration’s foreign aid spending freeze. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court declined to block U.S. District Judge Amir Ali’s order requiring the government to…Katelynn Richardson -
- Opinion
Pennsylvania Supreme Court and GOP Cannot Be Complacent
HARRISBURG, Pa.—Central Pennsylvania state Sen. Greg Rothman, the newly elected state Republican Party chairman, will face his first big challenge this year with the control of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on the ballot. Rothman, who won the party chairmanship with overwhelming support in a 248-120 vote last month, will look to fill three state Supreme…Salena Zito -
- News
Supreme Court Sides With One of the Nation’s Most Liberal Cities in Challenge to EPA’s Authority
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Supreme Court sided with San Francisco on Tuesday in its challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency. A majority on the court held that the EPA exceeded its authority by issuing San Francisco a permit that did not clearly explain the limits on how much sewage it could discharge into the ocean but included…Katelynn Richardson -
- News
The First ‘Mini-Me’ Executive Branch Case Gets to the Supreme Court on an Emergency Appeal
The first case involving judicial interference in the president’s executive authority has reached the Supreme Court in an emergency appeal filed over President Donald Trump’s firing of Hampton Dellinger, the Biden-appointed head of the Office of Special Counsel. In what acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris rightly calls an “unprecedented assault on the separation of powers”…Hans von Spakovsky -
- Opinion
Key Judicial Body Does Sheldon Whitehouse’s Dirty Work With Proposed Changes to Amicus Disclosure Rules
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has declared war on the judicial branch. Among his many complaints, he has insinuated without proof that judicial opinions he disagrees with are influenced by amicus—“friend of court”—briefs entangled in webs of dark money. To combat this supposed problem, he has pushed for onerous disclosure requirements that would essentially reveal everyone…Zack Smith -
- News
Leavitt Slams ‘Judicial Activists’ for Injunctions Against Trump
While legacy media claim there is a “constitutional crisis” in the Trump administration, the real crisis comes from federal judges blocking President Donald Trump’s executive orders, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday. “The real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch,” Leavitt said at a press briefing, “where district court judges…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
- News
Tennessee’s Legal Warrior: Jonathan Skrmetti’s Biggest Case Awaits Supreme Court Verdict
Jonathan Skrmetti is on a winning streak. Tennessee’s attorney general is hoping it continues all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Skrmetti announced Thursday his latest win, a $7.4 billion settlement with members of the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma for fueling the opioid epidemic. Tennessee was among the 15 states that accused the…R.E. Wermus -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Rebuffs Free Speech Defense in Upholding TikTok Divestment
At least one branch of the federal government is not prepared to make way for TikTok. On Friday, a mere seven days after oral arguments in TikTok v. Garland, the Supreme Court in a per curiam opinion unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the divestment law against challenges that it violated the First Amendment. The court…Jack Fitzhenry