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
DERELICTION OF DUTY: Chief Justice John Roberts Admits It’s His Job to Rein in the Judicial Insurrection—and He’s Not Doing It
The deep state and its allies have launched a judicial insurrection against President Donald Trump, and Chief Justice John Roberts effectively just admitted he’s not doing his job to stop it. Roberts made a rare public statement back in March, criticizing Trump and other Republicans who have suggested impeaching judges to prevent them from taking… -
opinion
Oklahoma Case Offers Supreme Court Chance to Benefit Families
A great many of the cases heard by our nation’s courts, at every level, require the delicate parsing of subtly contradictory facts and opinions leading to a decision that, almost inevitably, will greatly benefit some people while frustrating the lives and purposes of others. Happily, Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond is not one… -
news
‘Pride Puppy!’ Talk in Supreme Court Arguments Sparks Attention
An unusual clash in the Supreme Court this week centered on a book titled “Pride Puppy!” During the oral arguments Tuesday in the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor, Justice Neil Gorsuch pressed Alan Schoenfeld, the laywer representing Montgomery County Public Schools, about the book, and its apparent reference to leather and bondage. “Pride Puppy!” is… -
news
SCOTUS Order Pauses Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration early Saturday morning to pause the deportation of some Venezuelan illegal aliens until the court can rule further. The Court did not grant or deny the use of the Alien Enemies Act to remove the illegal aliens, who the Trump administration claims are Tren de Aragua gang… -
news
Texas Legislature Considering Change to Law That Could Increase Lawfare
A handful of laws are making their way through the Texas Legislature that could exacerbate the use of malicious lawfare to silence unwanted speech. Texas passed the so-called Texas Citizens Participation Act in 2011. This was one of many laws in states around the country designed to curtail what’s called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or… -
news
‘The Lunacy Is Over’: UK Supreme Court Decision Deals Blow to Transgender Ideology
The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court delivered a stunning rejection Wednesday of transgenderism, as it declared that transgender individuals who are biological males cannot be treated as women under law. The case first came to the court when representatives of For Women Scotland, a feminist organization, sought clarification of the definition of “women” in a legal… -
opinion
Trump Moves to Stop ‘Climate Lawfare’ Driving Up Energy Costs, Endangering US Energy Dominance
President Donald Trump’s critics are right about one thing: The first few months of his second term have been a reckoning. Starting with the federal government’s pursuit of law firms and organizations that committed lawfare against the president to hobble his political comeback, Trump has now supercharged executive authority to stop the flood of ideologically based lawsuits… -
news
Dem-Appointed Federal Judges Are the Big Losers at Supreme Court This Week
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Supreme Court has struck down orders issued by Democrat-appointed district court judges five times in the past week. Without addressing the merits of the issues—which include consequential questions about immigration, funding, and the president’s authority to remove agency officials—the high court has for procedural reasons issued back-to-back rulings undoing restrictions district… -
opinion
Trump Order Would Force the ACLU to Put Its Money Where Its Mouth Is on Lawfare
What if I told you that when federal district judges issue injunctions blocking President Donald Trump’s policies in a judicial insurrection, they were the ones breaking the law? No, it’s not just because these judges are effectively usurping the authority of the president over the executive branch. It’s more clear-cut than that. When Chief Judge… -
opinion
Supreme Court Urged to Hear Case of Man Arrested for Sharing Faith in Public
Anyone who has his First Amendment rights trampled by an unconstitutional act of government should be able to regain those rights in court, but that might not be the case if the Supreme Court allows a recent federal court’s decision to stand. That’s the argument attorneys at First Liberty Institute made recently in asking the… -
news
Supreme Court Case Could Allow States to Strip Medicaid Funding from Planned Parenthood
Praise and worship music clashed with shouts of “Abortion is health care” as pro-life protesters and abortion supporters rallied outside the United States Supreme Court Wednesday during oral arguments in a case that could decide whether states can disqualify Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. When South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster disqualified Planned Parenthood from… -
news
BREAKING: Would-Be Assassin Who Targeted Supreme Court Justice Will Plead Guilty in Court
The California man who planned to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will plead guilty in federal court, his lawyers said in a Wednesday filing. Nicholas Roske, 29, who staked out near Kavanaugh’s home with weapons in 2022 before turning himself in to authorities, was set to face trial in June. The attempted assassination charge… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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… -
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…