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
Supreme Court Term Limits: Still a ‘Solution’ in Search of a Problem
Whoever came up with the axiom “It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, but how you play the game” probably didn’t lose very often. The Left today is losing at the Supreme Court, and they don’t like it one bit. They respond by smearing the justices responsible for decisions they don’t like with fake… -
opinion
Some Supreme Court Justices Have a Slippery Handle on Facts
The U.S. Supreme Court is finished for the term, but questions about accuracy should follow some justices into the next session in October. For example: Was Justice Sonia Sotomayor correct in her description of a key historical event in a recent dissenting opinion—or did she obscure details to suit her purposes? And with the revelation… -
news
Vivek Ramaswamy Releases Supreme Court Picks
Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy released a list of judges Monday that he will consider for top judicial appointments should he become president of the United States. Ramaswamy's list of Supreme Court candidates includes James Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit; Lawrence VanDyke of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the… -
opinion
5 Major Cases That Highlighted Supreme Court’s 2022-2023 Term
Another year, another Supreme Court term in the books. And again, the court kept everyone waiting for many of its most consequential decisions until the last days of the 2022-2023 term. It was worth the wait, however, since the court issued important decisions that proved to be victories for the rule of law on affirmative… -
opinion
Smoke, Mirrors, and Justice
In the recently concluded term, the Supreme Court found itself in a storm of consequential cases, overturning precedents, and taking controversial stances that shifted society and upheld constitutional values. Democrats have, in reaction, decried the Supreme Court, framing it as a rogue entity, a politicized institution that has lost its credibility. They lament what they… -
news
Sotomayor’s Staff Leaned on Colleges, Libraries to Buy Her Book Ahead of Speaking Gigs
Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s taxpayer-funded staff frequently pushed colleges and libraries to purchase her books ahead of speaking engagements, according to The Associated Press. Supreme Court staff often assisted with arranging speaking engagements designed to promote Sotomayor’s books, which have earned the justice a minimum of $3.7 million since she took her seat on the bench… -
opinion
To Gain Power, the Left Seeks to Destroy the Supreme Court
Always remember: Any institution the Left doesn’t control, it will seek to destroy. The Supreme Court dealt a series of serious blows to the Left’s agenda this summer, and leftists aren’t taking it well. First, the high court ended racial discrimination in college admissions, which the Left views as essential to upholding the diversity, equity,… -
opinion
A New Birth of Freedom From Supreme Court
The series of decisions handed down by the Supreme Court in its latest session are so consequential that I would call it “a new birth of freedom.” These are, of course, the words of Abraham Lincoln at the bloody battlefield at Gettysburg. There is a deep and meaningful connection between Lincoln’s words then, in 1863,… -
opinion
How Clarence Thomas Went From a Childhood Sleeping on Dirt Floor to Becoming ‘the People’s Justice’
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas grew up with little. He and his younger brother slept on a dirt floor, and their mother struggled to make enough money to feed them. When he was a boy, Thomas’ mother sent him and his brother to live with his grandparents in hopes of a better life. Thomas’… -
news
Erin Hawley Responds to Leftists’ Attacks Over Supreme Court’s Free Speech Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado graphic designer on Friday in what Alliance Defending Freedom is calling a "landmark victory for free speech." But critics were quick to claim that the ruling lacked legitimacy — and that ADF senior counsel Erin Hawley, who litigated 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, is somehow at… -
opinion
It’s the First Amendment, Stupid: Supreme Court Holds That Free Speech Prevails in Challenge to Anti-Discrimination Law
A Politico headline said that a recent Supreme Court decision “limits LGBTQ protections” while an ABC News story told us that it was about whether “businesses can refuse to serve LGBTQ+ customers.” The decision today in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis wasn’t about that at all. In this 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court held that… -
opinion
In Student Loan Decision, Supreme Court Affirms President’s Power Has Limits
Can limits be found even to an emergency? Can the Constitution’s tripartite division of federal powers withstand the blows and novel respiratory viruses that history lobs at us from time to time? Can they withstand the enterprising legal justifications of an administration that lacks the support of Congress? Mercifully, the Supreme Court answered “yes” to all the… -
opinion
Justice Jackson’s Trifecta of Wrong on ‘Research’ on Racial Preferences
In her dissenting opinion to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down racial preferences in university admissions, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson managed to pull off a trifecta: She was factually incorrect in describing the results of a study that should not be believed, which wouldn’t provide practical support for her argument even if it were… -
opinion
Clarence Thomas Shows How Supreme Court’s Rejection of ‘Affirmative Action’ Is a Fitting Fourth of July Victory
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” On July Fourth, we celebrate much more than our independence from Great Britain. Our Founding Fathers risked their lives and reputations in the American Revolution to establish a government based on universal, permanent principles of justice. At the core of these… -
opinion
Supreme Court Ends the Last Vestige of ‘Systemic Racism’ in America
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the greatest majority opinion ever written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. That one-time Obamacare savior, who in 2012 rewrote the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate as a “tax” in order to salvage President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy, this time penned a landmark ruling abolishing something… -
news
BREAKING: Supreme Court Rules Colorado Cannot Force Graphic Designer to Create Art Violating Her Beliefs
The United States Supreme Court ruled Friday that Colorado cannot force graphic designer Lorie Smith to create art that violates her religious beliefs. Smith, who believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, wants to create wedding websites. But under Colorado’s discrimination laws, if she were to create such wedding websites, she… -
opinion
Unanimous Supreme Court Upholds Employee’s Right to Religious Accommodation
In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the right of an employee to be granted a religious accommodation by his employer unless doing so would substantially affect the employer’s business. In Groff v. DeJoy, the high court reiterated that employees must not be forced to choose between… -
opinion
Supreme Court Fails to Uphold Constitutional Provision Protecting State Legislatures
Unfortunately, a majority of the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision Tuesday by Chief Justice John Roberts failed to prevent a liberal state court’s interference with the authority of a state legislature under the U.S. Constitution to set the rules and draw the maps for federal elections. The decision will, as Justice Clarence Thomas correctly… -
opinion
Judge Misreads Supreme Court in Ruling Boy’s ‘2 Genders’ T-Shirt Makes Others Feel ‘Unsafe’
Score one for the woke scolds, who now get to dictate what kinds of messages nonwoke students are permitted to express in school. Liam Morrison, a 12-year-old from Massachusetts, was sent home from school for wearing a T-shirt declaring in all capital letters: “THERE ARE ONLY TWO GENDERS.” The reason? Liam was told that his… -
news
‘The People’s Justice’: New Book Demolishes Left’s Caricature of Clarence Thomas
The following is a lightly edited excerpt from “The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories That Define Him” by federal appeals court Judge Amul Thapar, set for publication June 20. Justice Clarence Thomas walked out of church after daily Mass on a crisp, clear morning in the fall of 1998. He descended the…