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
As Supreme Court’s Term Winds Down, Major Rulings on Horizon
The U.S. Supreme Court is nearing the end of its 2022-2023 term with a number of controversial cases awaiting decisions, including ones dealing with affirmative action, student loans, free speech, and immigration. The cases include Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North… -
opinion
Roberts Leads Supreme Court in Slapping Down Local Governments That Trample Property Rights
Chief Justice John Roberts has taken some lumps for certain decisions he has issued during his tenure on the Supreme Court, but he has again led the way in protecting the rights of property owners from a government often all too eager to take them away. Roberts wrote the unanimous opinion in Tyler v. Hennepin County, holding… -
opinion
John Roberts Doesn’t Follow Own Advice in Supreme Court’s Alabama Redistricting Case
Chief Justice John Roberts famously wrote in a 2007 case: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” He was exactly right in saying so in that Supreme Court decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1. Too bad… -
opinion
Oklahoma Supreme Court Ruling Striking Down Pro-Life Laws Can Be Easily Fixed by Legislature
The headline blared “Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules Abortion Laws Unconstitutional.” Wait, what? In Oklahoma? Yes, in two recent decisions, the Oklahoma Supreme Court decided that three recently enacted pro-life laws violated the state constitution. While abortion advocates are claiming victory, the state Legislature can easily correct those narrow decisions. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court… -
opinion
Supreme Court Acknowledges God Was Right: ‘Land’ Really Is Different From ‘Water’
Michael and Chantell Sackett have waited for well over a decade to learn whether the federal government would allow them to build a home on land they own. (Yes, you read that correctly.) How is that possible in America? That’s easy. America might be “the land of the free” and “the home of the brave”… -
news
Planned Parenthood Backs Court-Packing, Term Limits for Justices
Planned Parenthood announced Sunday that it supports Supreme Court reforms such as court-packing and term limits, according to a statement. After Roe v. Wade was overturned last year, Planned Parenthood launched a “Reclaim Our Courts” website and $100,000 ad campaign to highlight how former President Donald Trump “drastically changed the makeup of our courts.” Its latest position… -
opinion
The Great Left-Wing Disinformation Operation Against the Supreme Court
The past five weeks has seen a flurry of media activity, clearly coordinated, against the right-of-center U.S. Supreme Court. First, the outlet ProPublica began publishing a series of pieces “exposing” the well-known fact of Justice Clarence Thomas’ long-running friendship with billionaire real estate tycoon Harlan Crow, and alleging ethical improprieties pertaining to the justice’s purported… -
opinion
New NC Supreme Court Majority Overturns Prior Majority’s Unconstitutional Interference in Redistricting
In a detailed, 146-page opinion by Chief Justice Paul Newby, the newly composed North Carolina state Supreme Court vacated and overturned a prior decision by the same court that was a prime example of political interference by activist judges, who were fully prepared to ignore the law and the constitutional limitations on their authority. This… -
news
Protesters Again Target Supreme Court Justices’ Homes, in Violation of the Law
Illegal demonstrations apparently are continuing to take place at the homes of the Supreme Court justices despite federal law forbidding such activities. Far-left activists with Our Rights DC posted video on Thursday evening showing them demonstrating at Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's Maryland home, chanting, "We want ethics on the court." Their remarks come as… -
news
Sen. Mike Lee: ‘Very Possible’ to Figure Out Identity of Supreme Court Leaker
FIRST IN DAILY SIGNAL: Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee believes it is still "very possible" to uncover the identity of the leaker who exposed a draft of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization abortion opinion overturning Roe v. Wade—a leak that prompted illegal protesting and threats to the safety of the justices…. -
opinion
Left’s Scorched-Earth Strategy To Retake Supreme Court Is Sign of Just How Desperate It Is To Hold On To Institutional Power
The relentless character assassination of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing was a sign of things to come. The Left will seek power by any means necessary. On Tuesday, Senate Democrats held a hearing to discuss imposing new ethics rules on the Supreme Court. It notably took place exactly one year after… -
news
Kavanaugh Wasn’t the Only Justice Endangered by the Dobbs Leak
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh wasn't the only justice whose safety was threatened following the leak of the draft opinion showing Roe v. Wade would likely be overturned. Authorities arrested 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske near Kavanaugh's home in the middle of the night on June 8, 2022, after the opinion leaked in May. Roske had… -
news
1 Year Later: Dobbs Leak Led to Attacks on Justices, Pro-Lifers, Catholics
On May 2, 2022, someone leaked the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating that Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned. The Dobbs leak spurred illegal protesting intended to influence the justices, attacks on Catholic churches and pro-life pregnancy centers, and even an assassination attempt against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The leaker has yet to… -
news
‘We Will Deny You Security Unless You Do What We Want’: Republicans Slam Democrat Tactics on Supreme Court Ethics
Republicans are denouncing Democratic senators’ attempt to leverage the Supreme Court budget in exchange for an enforceable ethics code. During a Senate Judiciary hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., tore into their Democratic colleagues for “threatening to cut off the funding for the security at the Supreme… -
opinion
Chevron Deference, Long Abused by Federal Agencies, on Supreme Court’s Chopping Block?
Who makes the law in America? If you answered “Congress,” you’d be partly right. Congress makes part of the law in America, but only a very small part. And who interprets the law in America? Again, if you answered “the courts,” you’d only be partly right. Vastly more law is made and interpreted by the… -
opinion
The Left’s Plan for Hostile Takeover of Supreme Court
Democrats in Congress, together with their allies among left-wing groups and in the media, are attempting a hostile takeover of the Supreme Court. Their current tactics demonstrate what “by any means necessary” really means. In the system of government America’s Founders gave us, limits on government are necessary to achieve its purpose of protecting liberty…. -
opinion
Media’s Gorsuch Hit Continues to Delegitimize Supreme Court
As with ProPublica’s recent smear of Justice Clarence Thomas, there’s a lot of excitement across the left-wing Twittersphere over a Politico hit on Justice Neil Gorsuch. But even as a transparent piece of partisan propaganda, it is poorly conceived. Politico kicks off the piece “Law firm head bought Gorsuch-owned property” with a purposefully deceptive claim:… -
news
Rep. Dan Bishop Warns That Justice Department Helps Impose ‘Censorship Regime’
OXON HILL, Md.—Politicians and policymakers didn’t realize until recently how much leftist groups work with American colleges and universities to encourage the suppression of academic freedom while the government does nothing, a House conservative said Friday during a Heritage Foundation event. “I think that we’re only lately understood the full scope of a host of… -
news
How Next Conservative President Should Tame Politicized Justice Department
OXON HILL, Md.—The next conservative president must reform the Justice Department to restore constitutional government and deter rogue and politicized actions, conservatives said Friday at a Heritage Foundation event. Heritage’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project, also known as Project 2025, says: “Anything other than a top-to-bottom overhaul will only further erode the trust of significant portions… -
opinion
Supreme Court Tells Maine to Stop Religiously Discriminating. Maine Gets Creative, Does It Anyway.
Last term, in Carson v. Makin, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Maine could not prevent parents from using otherwise generally available state school choice funds at religious schools simply because those schools provided religious instruction. But the state is back at it again, discriminating against families and the religious schools they want to…