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
Arizona Republicans Back Away From the Unborn Following State Supreme Court Ruling
A number of Arizona Republicans are rapidly distancing from the state’s controversial Supreme Court ruling protecting almost all unborn babies from abortions. The state Supreme Court upheld a 1864 law on Tuesday that bans almost all abortions in Arizona, except when the mother’s life is at risk. In a 4-to-2 decision, the court said that… -
news
‘Radical Antisemite’? Judicial Nominee Stirs Controversy
The Biden White House and the Senate’s Democrat leaders are sticking by a nominee for an appeals court vacancy with ties to anti-Israel and anti-police organizations, despite shaky support among some Democrats. Separately, a watchdog group raised questions about the judicial nominee’s financial disclosure report. In November, President Joe Biden nominated New York lawyer Adeel… -
news
Victims of Chemical Abortions Speak Out as Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case dealing with the Food and Drug Administration’s removal of safeguards on chemical abortion drugs. Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, four national medical associations and four individual doctors sued the FDA for removing almost all safety standards for pregnant women taking the abortion drugs… -
opinion
Tipping the Scales of Justice to the Left? The Federal Judiciary’s New ‘Guidance’ for Assigning Cases
Federal judges have ruled against the Biden administration in several recent high-profile cases, and those on the Left are not happy about it. Instead of defending their policies on the merits in front of these judges, those on the Left have instead pressured the principal policy-making body for the federal judiciary to change how cases… -
opinion
Supreme Court Weighs Government’s Power to Restrict Speech on Social Media
Those hoping for more open discourse on matters of national concern should not await the Supreme Court‘s decision in Murthy v. Missouri with much optimism. During Monday morning’s oral arguments in the case, the justices sounded unlikely to restrict the White House’s ability to control content moderation on social media platforms such as Facebook despite… -
news
Pro-Life Pregnancy Group Appeals to SCOTUS in Clash With New Jersey AG Over ‘Unlawful’ Subpoena
An organization that operates pro-life pregnancy centers in New Jersey asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case involving what the centers’ petition calls an “improper” and “unlawful” subpoena by state Attorney General Matthew Platkin. Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal firm known as ADF, filed a petition with the high court Feb. 26… -
opinion
Supreme Court Justice Right to Warn of Dangers in Dismissing Jurors for Their Faith
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recently expressed concern about the decision by Missouri’s state courts to exclude Christians from serving on a particular jury because of their “traditional religious views on questions of sexual morality.” The case at issue involves a woman who identifies as a lesbian suing the Missouri Department of Corrections for… -
opinion
Google AI’s Recent Debacle Draws Stark Comparison to Public Education’s Own ‘Racial Justice’ Algorithm
“Happy Days” thought they had a great idea for juicing ratings back in 1977, featuring an episode where “the Fonz” jumped a real-life shark on water skis. It didn’t do much for the ratings of the show, but it did help coin a phrase. Today, “jumping the shark” denotes when something popular reaches a point… -
news
Supreme Court Case Has Implications for Elon Musk’s Subpoena Fight With SEC
Congress created and empowered the Securities and Exchange Commission to help enforce U.S. securities laws. The SEC’s unique structure and broad powers have long been controversial and subjected to constitutional challenges—including one currently being brought by Elon Musk. Only a few years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the SEC’s mechanism for appointing its… -
opinion
Justices Weigh Future of Free Speech on Social Media Platforms
Can states prohibit social media companies from censoring the speech of their platforms’ users? That’s a question now before the Supreme Court. The justices heard oral arguments Monday in a pair of major First Amendment cases. The cases stem from laws passed in Texas and Florida in 2021 after a number of social media companies’… -
opinion
To Censor or to Host? Supreme Court Hears Social Media Platforms’ Free Speech Challenge to State Laws
The Supreme Court on Monday heard hours of argument in two free-speech cases, Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton. NetChoice, an industry group representing large tech companies, argued that laws enacted by Texas and Florida restricting the companies’ ability to demote or remove user content violated the First Amendment rights of social media platforms…. -
opinion
Alabama Supreme Court’s Embryo Ruling Embodies America’s Legal Heritage
Leftists have spent much of the past week up in arms about a ruling Feb. 16 from the Alabama Supreme Court. At first blush, it is curious that a state supreme court case would engender so much vitriol and bellyaching. But the groaning from the left-wing media and political class can be easily explained: The… -
opinion
Alabama Supreme Court Rightly Defers to State Law in Frozen Embryo Case
The Alabama Supreme Court’s recent 7-2 decision that a frozen embryo is a “child” under the state’s wrongful-death statute demonstrates once again that judges have to use the right method to make the right decisions. Keeping this in mind prevents getting distracted by the politics and hysterics that often accompany decisions on such volatile issues…. -
opinion
Alabama Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Embryonic Human Life
In a landmark decision, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday in favor of protecting embryonic human life from wrongful death. Embryos are created routinely through in vitro fertilization, a process by which ova are fertilized with sperm in a laboratory rather than in a woman’s body. The process of creating and cryopreserving embryos can be… -
news
Lawmakers Hold Press Conference Demanding ‘Justice for the Five’ Aborted Babies
Republican lawmakers and pro-life activists gathered Wednesday on Capitol Hill to call for transparency and clarity regarding the deaths of “The Five,” preemie-sized aborted babies whose bodies are in the possession of Washington, D.C., officials. Pro-life activist Terrisa Bukovinac, the founder of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising and the co-discoverer of “The Five,” spoke out on… -
opinion
Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling May Be Bigger Than You Think
One of the more interesting, but less reported, aspects of the Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark affirmative action case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard was its criticism of universities’ racial categories in admissions policies. That critique opens a new way to challenge racial discrimination in court. Lawyers and litigants who care about racial… -
opinion
Democrats’ Calls for Justice Thomas’ Recusal Are a Nakedly Political Ploy
In their latest attack on the integrity of the U.S. Supreme Court, House Democrats are urging Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from a case involving former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on Colorado’s Republican primary ballot. Their reasoning is simple, but dangerously misguided: Because Thomas’ wife, Ginni, has expressed opinions about Trump and… -
news
South Carolina Republicans Slammed for Pushing ‘Trump-Hating’ Pro-Abortion Democrat for Judicial Appointment
South Carolina Republicans are drawing fire from the South Carolina Freedom Caucus for pushing a pro-abortion former Democratic House leader as the state’s next circuit court judge for the 5th Judicial Circuit. James Smith, the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nominee and the former Democratic leader of South Carolina’s House of Representatives, is described by one Planned… -
opinion
Big Law’s Troubling Sway at the Supreme Court
There’s a big-money influence operation going on behind the scenes at the Supreme Court—just not the one you’ve heard about. Motivated partisans keen to discredit the Supreme Court’s conservative justices pound the table and rail on about a “dark money” conspiracy that uses gifts and front groups to reshape the law to the benefit of… -
opinion
Supreme Court Must Answer Whether Judges or Bureaucrats Have Final Word on Federal Law
Will the Supreme Court uphold the Chevron doctrine, under which courts defer to contested interpretations of law by agencies in the executive branch? Or will the high court instruct lower courts to determine the best reading of the law, as they do in virtually every non-agency case? Those are the questions the Supreme Court must…