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
Test for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson: Actions Speak Louder Than Words
The Senate voted 53-47 on Thursday to confirm President Joe Biden’s nomination of D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. Three Republican senators—Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mitt Romney of Utah—joined all 48 Democratic senators and two independents in voting for Jackson. At 51 years old, Jackson… -
news
‘Unprecedented’: Conservative Lawyers Condemn Coordinated Effort to Discredit Clarence Thomas
Conservative attorneys slammed Democratic lawmakers’ attempts to pressure Justice Clarence Thomas into recusing himself from certain cases over his wife’s political activism. “The left’s partisan crusade to force Justice Thomas off of cases is not based on real recusal standards but on politics,” Carrie Severino, president of Judicial Crisis Network, said in a statement to… -
opinion
Reject Ketanji Brown Jackson
The issue with Ketanji Brown Jackson, the 51-year-old federal appellate judge who is our senile president’s Supreme Court nominee, is not necessarily her on-paper qualifications. By most traditional metrics, she is “qualified”: She has served as both a district court and appellate court judge, served as vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, formerly clerked… -
opinion
Jackson’s Failure to Define ‘Woman’ Indicates She Won’t Protect Females on Supreme Court
Setting aside Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s record on unions and pedophile sentencing, it’s clear from her resume that she boasts many qualifications, and will likely be confirmed to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. During her nomination hearings this week, Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked a handful of questions that… -
opinion
Supreme Court Declines Religious Liberty Case, but 1 Justice Hints at Potential Outcome in Future Cases Like It
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case of a religious organization claiming it had the right to refuse to hire individuals who did not share its religious beliefs. In denying the case on technical grounds, Justice Samuel Alito indicated that if it or a similar case came before the court in the… -
opinion
Clarence Thomas Didn’t Get the Ketanji Brown Jackson Media Puffery
The liberal media has treated the Supreme Court nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson as a glorious and historic occasion. Nobody needs to care about where she stands on things since she and the media share all the “correct opinions.” The Associated Press issued a story under this tweet: “For Black girls, the possibility of Ketanji… -
opinion
What the Confirmation Hearing Told Us About Judge Jackson’s Judicial Philosophy
“I do not have a judicial philosophy, per se,” Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson told the Senate Judiciary Committee last year. This week, the committee held its hearing on her nomination to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and identifying her judicial philosophy and measuring it against how America’s Founders designed the judiciary is necessary for… -
news
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Denies Connection to CRT. Her Past Says Otherwise.
Under questioning from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at her Supreme Court hearing, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ran away from critical race theory as fast as possible. Her record says otherwise, however. The candidate’s past embrace of some of critical race theory’s leading proponents is concerning, and shows that she has so far gotten off easy… -
opinion
What You Need to Know About Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Ketanji Brown Jackson may soon become the newest justice of the Supreme Court. Her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing began Monday. Democrats praised the historic nature of her nomination and Republicans raised concerns over her record. But who is Ketanji Brown Jackson? How would she rule on critical cases if confirmed to the Supreme Court? Will she… -
news
4 Key Moments on Day 1 of Judge Jackson’s Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing
The opening day of hearings on federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court focused on the nominee’s record and the historic nature of her appointment. President Joe Biden last month nominated Jackson, a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and before that a federal district… -
opinion
A Look at Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Most Noteworthy Judicial Decisions
On March 21, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing will begin. Senators will be scrutinizing her past judicial opinions on critical issues from labor law to illegal immigration to presidential claims of executive privilege. This brief overview of several of those key opinions provides some insight into her general approach to resolving legal… -
opinion
High Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson Argued Against Free Speech—Near Abortion Clinics
A woman walks up to you on a sidewalk in front of a department store—as you are headed into that store—and says she hopes you will not shop there because it sells products made in Communist China. She then hands you a brochure that lists all of the products sold in the store that are… -
opinion
Performing ‘Sex-Change Procedures’ on Kids Is Child Abuse, Texas’ Attorney General Says. He’s Right, and I Should Know.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a formal legal opinion last week concluding that performing certain “sex-change procedures” on children—including surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers—constitutes child abuse under Texas law. As someone who identified as a woman for eight years, I agree. In his Feb. 18 statement, Paxton methodically builds the case for his… -
opinion
Don’t Buy Democrats’ Cries of GOP ‘Racism’ and ‘Misogyny’ on Biden’s Supreme Court Pick
Even before Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court, prominent Democrats began accusing Republican senators of being racists and misogynists for daring to question, for example, the pledge that President Joe Biden made as a candidate to nominate a black woman to the high court if elected. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said such questions… -
opinion
Are Courts Properly Interpreting Supreme Court Precedent and Respecting Religious Employers’ Employment Decisions?
Supreme Court watchers learn a lot about the justices’ thinking on particular issues based on which cases they agree to accept. Court watchers can also learn a lot based on which cases the justices reject—especially when some of the justices take the relatively rare step of issuing a statement “respecting the denial of certiorari,” which… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Race Shouldn’t Be Sole Basis for Nominating a Supreme Court Justice, Ben Carson Says
ORLANDO, Fla.—Former presidential candidate and celebrated neurosurgeon Ben Carson says he is disappointed with how President Joe Biden selected Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. “When we start making the criteria for public positions something that people have no control over—they have no control over their race … it goes against all the work, the… -
opinion
What Senators Must Ask Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson About Her Record, Judicial Philosophy
President Joe Biden has nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Who is Jackson? What is her judicial philosophy? And how should senators evaluate her nomination? Here’s what you need to know. Jackson’s rulings and previous comments offer clues as to why Biden nominated her to… -
news
Does a Teacher Have a Right to Refuse to Call a Girl a Boy? Virginia’s Supreme Court May Decide
A Virginia teacher was fired for refusing to call a girl a boy. Now, the state’s Supreme Court has the opportunity to decide whether a local school board violated the teacher’s legal rights. A lawyer for French teacher Peter Vlaming asked Tuesday that the Virginia Supreme Court take up the case, Vlaming v. West Point… -
news
4 Things to Know About Dark Money Interests Behind Biden’s Supreme Court Choice
Before becoming a White House official helping President Joe Biden pick his first Supreme Court nominee, Paige Herwig was a founding member of a legal group—bankrolled by a liberal political consulting firm—that drafted a list of possible justices for the Biden campaign. Herwig’s presence on the White House legal team is just one example of… -
opinion
First Black Woman Supreme Court Justice Could Be… a Man?
President Joe Biden has made clear he will keep his promise to elect the first black woman to the Supreme Court, following Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement. But in a curious tweet announcing he will pick someone with excellent qualifications, he said, “And they will be the first black woman nominated to the United States Supreme Court.” They? …