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
Attorney General Bondi: Seize the Opportunity to Fight Child Exploitation
Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice have a great opportunity to advance the cause of protecting children from exploitation, an opportunity that previous attorneys general—from both parties—have failed to grasp. In 2008, Congress unanimously enacted the PROTECT Our Children Act, requiring that the attorney general “create and implement a National Strategy for… -
opinion
Local Climate Lawfare Is Undermining US Foreign Policy and National Security
Lawfare has grown to be a huge problem. If a set of activists cannot win an election or get a favorable bill passed, they find and run to a sympathetic court. An additional emerging form of lawfare has now taken root in America: local governments and states suing domestic energy producers over their alleged role in climate change…. -
news
Supreme Court Case Could Have Major Effect on 2026 Midterms
THE CENTER SQUARE—The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case that could have an effect on the 2026 midterm elections. The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, centers around a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted up to five days after an election as long as they are postmarked… -
news
Comey Scores Court Win Against DOJ. What’s Next?
A federal magistrate judge on Monday criticized federal prosecutors when ordering that they turn over grand jury evidence to the defense team representing indicted former FBI Director James Comey, who faces charges of perjury and obstruction of a congressional investigation. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick said interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan made two statements to grand… -
news
Supreme Court to Consider If Migrants Must Cross Border to Seek Asylum
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Supreme Court will hear a case with massive implications for the government’s ability to limit asylum claims at the southern border. The justices agreed Monday to weigh whether migrants who show up on the Mexican side of the border must be allowed to apply for asylum. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act,… -
opinion
November’s Dishonorable Conduct Award Winner—Judge John McConnell
We awarded our October Dishonorable Conduct Award to California Judge Edward Chen in the first of our new series on judges who ignore or twist the law and the Constitution to get the policy outcome they desire. Our November award, unfortunately, goes to Rhode Island Judge John McConnell for his decision on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which was… -
news
DOJ Sues to Block Newsom’s ‘Racially Gerrymandered’ Congressional Map
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it is suing Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Secretary of State Shirley Weber over the state’s newly adopted congressional map, which creates as many as five additional Democratic House seats ahead of the midterms. California voters on Nov. 4 approved Proposition 50 to suspend the state’s… -
news
‘Epstein Hoax’: Trump Announces New Investigation
President Donald Trump is asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate financier Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with prominent Democrats, including a former president. “Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures, I will be asking A.G. Pam… -
news
‘NO BEARING’: Despite Trump Pardons, Democrat AGs to Prosecute Election Cases
Despite President Donald Trump’s pardons on Sunday, Democrat attorneys general told The Daily Signal and publicly suggested they plan to continue their state prosecutions against contingent state electors from the 2020 election. Democrats attorneys general—from Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin—brought criminal charges against the contingent Trump electors, who were in-waiting if courts or state legislatures… -
news
Justice Neil Gorsuch Warns About ‘Greatest Danger America Faces Today’
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch told “Fox and Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones Thursday that the “greatest danger” facing the country was “itself.” Only 36% of Americans could pass the citizenship test given to immigrants seeking to become naturalized citizens, according to a 2018 survey by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, with 57% of… -
news
Judge Asks DOJ Lawyer If He Thinks Documents Case Was Wrongly Dismissed in Comey Oral Arguments
Judge Cameron McGowan Currie announced Thursday that she would rule by Thanksgiving whether to disqualify Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor who convinced grand juries to bring charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both Comey and James argue that Halligan’s appointment as acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District… -
news
Supreme Court Considers Whether the First Step Act Allows Reduction in Criminal Sentences
The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether convicted felons can petition for reduced sentencing under the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform law that President Donald Trump signed during his first term. The cases focus on what criteria a federal judge can consider in reducing a prisoner’s sentence, and whether this can include… -
news
‘RIGHT OUT OF 1984’: Judeo-Christian Law Firm Sues Michigan AG for Attacking Free Speech by Endorsing ‘Hate Group’ Smear
The American Freedom Law Center is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to grant oral arguments in its First Amendment lawsuit against Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel for the “irreparable harm” of her endorsing the Southern Poverty Law Center’s claim that AFLC is a “hate group.” “From the very beginning, Michigan… -
news
Why the Supreme Court May Never Review Gay Marriage
The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a former Kentucky county clerk’s case that could have potentially challenged the 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which nationalized same-sex marriage. “This was completely predictable,” Thomas Jipping, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. “It was not the right case to raise the issue… -
news
Trump Pardons Dozens of MAGA Allies Accused of Attempting to Overturn 2020 Election
President Donald Trump has pardoned dozens of allies who were accused of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Pardons apply to former Trump lawyer and New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Trump ally Sidney Powell. U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin announced Sunday night that… -
news
Obama Judge Who Greenlit Secret Subpoenas Targeting GOP Hit With Ethics Complaint
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee who serves as chief judge of the D.C. District Court, is facing an ethics complaint for “political bias” against President Donald Trump and his administration. Boasberg approved nondisclosure orders in 2023 that kept nearly a dozen Republican members of Congress from knowing their cellphone records had… -
news
Court Delivers Win in Ohio for Free Speech Rights on Pronouns
A federal court ruled in favor of a group suing an Ohio school district over its pronouns policy on Thursday as court battles continue to rage over the nation’s culture war. The Thursday decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Olentangy Local School District’s pronoun policy that tried to force… -
news
Supreme Court Sides With Trump Admin on Transgender Passports
The Supreme Court delivered a victory to the Trump administration regarding a policy that passports should identify people based only on biological sex. “Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth—in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone… -
opinion
Adding More Regulations to Drug Advertising is Unnecessary. Here’s Why.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plans to rewrite the rules concerning pharmaceutical advertising is hardly novel. Every few years Washington revives this perennial idea—typically proffered to “save” money or “protect” patients from “misleading” messaging. But as a former First Amendment lawyer who became chief counsel of the Food and Drug Administration and later the general counsel of a leading pharmaceutical company, I state… -
news
How Trump-Appointed Justices Are Responding to Trump’s Tariffs
Two Supreme Court justices President Donald Trump appointed during his last term seemed skeptical of his presidential power to impose tariffs without an OK by Congress. The high court heard arguments Wednesday about Trump’s tariffs in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump. At issue is whether the president exceeded his executive branch authority by imposing tariffs…