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
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? … -
opinion
What Justice Stephen Breyer Brought to the Supreme Court
Although he did not heed the myriad calls for him to step down by liberal groups at the end of last term, Justice Stephen G. Breyer, 83, reportedly will retire from the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of this term, leaving a vacancy for President Joe Biden to fill as Democrats maintain a slim… -
opinion
NPR’s Fake News From Supreme Court
CNN anchor Brianna Keilar is hosting a temporary program pompously titled “Democracy in Peril.” On Jan. 18, Keilar huffed: “We can’t discuss the tsunami of disinformation, jeopardizing American democracy, without talking about the mothership, Fox.” On the very same day, NPR Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg aired a story claiming that Supreme Court Justice Neil… -
opinion
Sotomayor’s Ignorance of COVID-19 Facts
Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s ludicrous claim before her Supreme Court peers during Jan. 7 oral arguments that 100,000 children were “in serious condition” from COVID-19, when 3,000 would have been more accurate, is far more than just an embarrassment to the justice. How could such an ill-informed person be a justice of our highest court? What else… -
opinion
Supreme Court Can and Should Resolve ‘Waters of the United States’ Issue
For decades, there has been major confusion regarding what waters are regulated under the Clean Water Act. The United States Supreme Court can change this by agreeing to hear a case brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation. In its petition asking the court to hear the case, Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Pacific Legal… -
opinion
Supreme Court Ponders Whether Parents May Use Tuition Aid for Religious Instruction
A prohibition on distributing government funds to “sectarian,” or religious, schools is written into the constitutions of 36 states. Such provisions are known as Blaine Amendments. Last year, the Supreme Court considered and then invalidated the specific prohibition contained in the Montana Constitution. In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the high court ruled that… -
opinion
Biden’s Supreme Court Commission Does What He Intended: Nothing
Most of us know the old philosophical chestnut: If a tree falls in the woods but no one is around to hear it, does it actually make a sound? The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court’s release Monday of its draft final report offers this variation: If the president creates a commission but it doesn’t… -
opinion
Why It’s Likely That Supreme Court Will Overturn Roe v. Wade
The days of abortion on demand could be numbered. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case in which the high court could overturn its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade and send power back to the states to determine their own abortion laws. “I feel like the Supreme Court right now has… -
news
Why These 21 Americans Say Supreme Court Should Overturn Roe v. Wade
A pro-life crowd including students, mothers, feminists, conservatives, liberals, and Democrats as well as Republicans gathered outside the Supreme Court building Wednesday as the sun rose over Washington. Americans traveled to the Supreme Court from across the country to express their views on abortion and call for the nine justices to overturn the court's 1973… -
opinion
Supreme Court Takes Up Challenges to Near Limitless Power of EPA
This term the Supreme Court will hear four consolidated cases challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. That question will impact all electricity consumers, but the cases may have larger implications for the ever-expanding reach of the administrative state. The lead case—West Virginia v. EPA—questions the constitutionality of… -
news
Virginia Attorney General-Elect Commits to Investigating Sexual Assaults in Loudoun Schools
Virginia’s Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares, a Republican, said during a press conference Thursday that he plans to investigate Loudoun County Public Schools and the recent sexual assaults that took place on its campuses. “Do you plan to investigate Loudoun County Public Schools and the recent sexual assaults that have happened there?” a journalist asked during the press… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Marsha Blackburn Calls for Attorney General’s Ouster for Targeting Parents
Attorney General Merrick Garland should resign or be fired or impeached for unleashing the FBI on public school parents, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told The Daily Signal in an interview. “We have all these problems with China that the FBI needs to be looking at,” Blackburn said in the interview Thursday. “We have problems at… -
opinion
Justice Clarence Thomas’ Long Career Has Had a Profound Impact on Our Liberty
Justice Clarence Thomas has distinguished himself as a rigorous jurist on the Supreme Court. He is also distinguished as a long-serving member—with 30 years on the bench, he is the 16th longest-serving justice of the 115 men and women who have served on the court. Should he continue to serve through May 20, 2028, he… -
news
Schools Group That Urged Attorney General’s Anti-Parent Initiative Has Ties to Democrats, Unions
The National School Boards Association, which urged the Biden administration to use federal law enforcement to investigate parents who speak out on local education matters as potential domestic terrorists, has political ties to the Democratic Party and labor unions. The national association represents members of locally elected school boards, which usually are officially nonpartisan, and… -
opinion
Threatening Memo From Attorney General Merrick Garland to Parents Comes With Serious Conflict of Interest
Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a threatening memo on Monday calling on the FBI to address “violent threats against school officials and teachers.” It was an obvious shot at parents who oppose schools and school boards that promote woke ideology and critical race theory in classrooms that exploded this year. Somehow, the story gets even… -
opinion
‘Arrest Me!’: Mom Challenges Attorney General’s Call for Probing Threats to School Boards
Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas says she is just one of many parents “with legitimate concerns about our kids’ education.” Solas drew national attention earlier this year when her local school board in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, threatened to sue her over public record requests she made to learn what her local school district was… -
opinion
Attorney General Garland Abuses Power He Doesn’t Have to Threaten Parents
Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo on Monday directing the Department of Justice and the FBI to “launch a series of additional efforts in the coming days designed to address the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel.” The Garland memo looks like an effort to use the FBI to threaten and silence… -
opinion
5 Supreme Court Cases to Watch in the 2021-22 Term
The Supreme Court has already agreed to review several important cases in its upcoming term, and it will likely add more soon. Here’s a preview of five of the most important cases the Supreme Court will hear in its 2021-2022 term. 1. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization This is the most important abortion case…