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
‘A Pure Political Ploy’: Sen. Rubio Accuses Democrats of Trying to Pack Courts for Their Own Agenda
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., criticized legislation introduced by Democratic members of Congress intended to add four justices to the Supreme Court. Rubio told Fox News Thursday that the bill is a “political ploy” that serves the Democratic Party’s political agenda. He added that issues with the court sprang up once the conservatives made up a… -
opinion
Left Is Using Supreme Court Commission to Change Court’s Decisions, Not to Improve It
Today, President Joe Biden signed an executive order creating the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. The White House announcement and the members chosen for this commission raise serious questions about its real purpose and concerns about its impact on the independence of the judiciary. The most obvious question is why… -
opinion
Supreme Court Punted on Protections for Religion in Workplace. Justice Gorsuch Wasn’t Having It.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday released various opinions and orders, as it does in the flurry of activity in the spring season that precedes the court’s summer recess. While most orders are released without commentary, among this week’s batch was a denial of a petition for writ of certiorari that included a strongly worded… -
news
Democrat Senator Calls for Biden’s New AG to Examine ‘Fake’ Kavanaugh Investigation
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., called on the nation's new attorney general, Merrick Garland, to examine the FBI’s “fake” investigation into allegations that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a fellow high school student. The Rhode Island Democrat suggested that the FBI's investigation into Kavanaugh’s conduct had been incomplete, and asked Garland to examine how… -
opinion
Justices’ Title VII ‘on Basis of Sex’ Ruling Spawning Unintended Consequences in Lower Courts
A Supreme Court case decided last year is a cautionary tale of the legal equivalent of the law of unintended consequences. The high court issued a decision last June in Bostock v. Clayton County, a landmark 6-3 opinion holding that discrimination “on the basis of sex” for the purposes of Title VII (which forbids discrimination… -
opinion
In Pivotal Ruling, Supreme Court Removes Barrier to Protecting First Amendment
A near-unanimous Supreme Court decided Monday that two Christian students have the right to sue the Georgia college that violated their free speech rights in the past. The impact of the ruling is far greater than what at first sounds like a run-of-the-mill decision on a procedural issue that might prompt non-lawyers to take a… -
news
7 Takeaways as Merrick Garland Gets Hearing for Attorney General
Merrick Garland, whose nomination five years ago to the Supreme Court was doomed, finally got a hearing Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee—as President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general. Judging from their statements, the panel’s Republican senators seemed likely to confirm Garland. After President Barack Obama nominated Garland for the Supreme Court in March… -
news
Smithsonian’s Clarence Thomas Exhibit Guilty of ‘Irresponsible Bias,’ Black Conservatives Say
A group of black conservative leaders has called on the National Museum of African American History and Culture to update its exhibit on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to correct what it calls “irresponsible bias” in the display. "Black history cannot and should not be political," Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., wrote in a letter last week… -
opinion
Federal Judge Is Right to Enjoin Biden’s Plan to Halt Deportations
In his first few days in office, President Joe Biden has issued a flurry of executive orders and memorandums. And according to one federal judge, not all of them are lawful. Judge Drew Tipton of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has enjoined the Biden administration’s Jan. 20 memorandum that would have suspended… -
opinion
The Left’s Push to ‘Reform’ the Courts Only Will Politicize Them
President Joe Biden has announced the creation of a commission to examine “reforming” the courts. This move is not only a “solution” in search of a problem, but will itself likely damage the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. It is based on the dangerous idea that the political branches should manipulate… -
opinion
As Biden Attorney General, Merrick Garland Will Face Political Pressures
With President-elect Joe Biden’s choice of federal Judge Merrick Garland as his new attorney general last week, the question arises: Will Garland carry out his responsibilities in a nonpartisan manner, or will he return the Justice Department to the days of the Obama-Biden administration — when, as I have argued, Eric Holder politicized the department more than… -
opinion
Discrimination Against Churches Didn’t Have a Prayer at the Supreme Court
COVID-19 made 2020 an incredibly hard year for Americans. Governors and mayors made it worse by shrinking religious freedom. It didn’t have to be this way. Most Americans have shown that they’re willing to take sensible precautions. But some of those in leadership positions have overreacted, to put it mildly. As Supreme Court Justice Samuel… -
opinion
Supreme Court’s 5-4 Ruling Shows How Religious Liberty Hangs by a Thread
In totalitarian societies, governments suppress the church and religious worship. That’s because dictators think citizens should worship them as the highest authority—and not a Higher Authority, which they view as a threat to their power and position. In the United States, religious liberty has been under siege for some time. Last week’s Thanksgiving gift to… -
opinion
Justice Alito’s Important Warning
Everywhere one looks there are warning signs, from labels on cigarette packs warning that smoking causes cancer to ridiculous labels on thermometers that read, “Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally.” Justice Samuel Alito has delivered some serious warnings that too often are ignored by many who believe the freedoms we enjoy… -
opinion
5 Key Takeaways From Justice Samuel Alito’s Speech to the Federalist Society
Last week, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito gave a blistering keynote speech on a range of topics for the Federalist Society’s national convention, held virtually this year. The speech, which conservatives applauded for Alito’s forthrightness, was also controversial. Alito did not shy away from offering his professional perspective on law and commenting on cultural issues,… -
opinion
Justice Alito Is Right, Again, on First Amendment
The fact that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito gave the keynote address to the Federalist Society in and of itself should be neither surprising nor controversial. Since the theme of the conservative legal group’s 2020 National Lawyers Convention was “The Rule of Law and the Current Crisis,” the content of Alito’s remarks on emerging legal… -
opinion
Religious Liberty on Trial in Supreme Court’s Foster Care Case
Foster parents offer hope and critical support to children facing tremendous challenges. But the city of Philadelphia has threatened that hope by telling longtime foster parents that they can’t work with Catholic Social Services because of the religious organization’s belief in marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The case Fulton v…. -
news
‘Networks Don’t Get to Decide Elections, Courts Do’: Giuliani Announces Lawsuit
The Trump campaign is moving ahead with a lawsuit in Pennsylvania, saying President Donald Trump was denied a “fair count” of votes in his contest against Democratic challenger Joe Biden and that poll watchers were not able to properly oversee the process. Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s attorneys and the former mayor of New York… -
opinion
3 Young Conservative Women Reflect on What Justice Amy Coney Barrett Means to Them
Three members of The Heritage Foundation’s Young Leaders Program, who are currently interning at Heritage’s Feulner Institute, share their thoughts on what the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett means to them personally. ‘A Role Model to Conservative Women,’ by Rose Laoutaris Justice Amy Coney Barrett is a powerful role model for conservative women like… -
opinion
Memo to the Supreme Court: Keep the Faithful Free to Foster
Foster families provide lifesaving care to hundreds of thousands of children each and every year in the United States. Sadly, more children are in need than there are families ready to provide care. To best serve these children, public policy needs to maximize the number and diversity of foster agencies (including faith-based agencies). This increases…