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
Lawmakers Call on Attorney General to Enforce Anti-Obscenity Laws, Make Good on Trump’s Campaign Pledge
Four Republicans lawmakers are calling on Attorney General William Barr to enforce federal anti-obscenity laws and to crack down on hardcore pornography. Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Brian Babin of Texas, Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, and Jim Banks of Indiana sent a letter to Barr, urging him to enforce anti-obscenity laws that they say…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Gives a Win to Pro-Lifers
Gov. Matt Bevin walked out of his office for the last time Dec. 9, and it’s somewhat fitting that the U.S. Supreme Court picked that same day to uphold one of the most important laws he ever signed—the Kentucky ultrasound bill. The justices, who watched the ACLU appeal all the way to their doorstep, refused to…Tony Perkins -
- Opinion
Podcast: How a Supreme Court Decision Is Hurting a Family Business
Brad and Hilary Scott run a family jewelry business. They sell jewelry across state lines—and that’s become a huge liability. A recent Supreme Court says they, and other businesses, have to pay sales taxes to other states, which could potentially ruin small businesses like theirs. Daniel Davis recently spoke to them at the annual meeting…Daniel Davis -
- Opinion
4 Key Exchanges as Supreme Court Hears NYC Handgun Case
The Supreme Court heard oral argument Monday in the first major case involving gun rights in nearly a decade. A local shooting club is challenging New York City’s handgun regulations, perhaps the most restrictive and draconian in the nation. New York’s regulations banned residents from taking their lawfully owned and registered handguns anywhere outside their homes…Elizabeth Slattery -
- Opinion
The Left’s Revealing Overreaction to Attorney General Barr’s Landmark Speech
Watching the hysterical reaction of the radical left—such as Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post—to Attorney General William Barr’s thoughtful, well-reasoned, important speech at the Federalist Society convention on the constitutional doctrine of the unitary executive is like history repeating itself. Liberals had the same overreaction to then-Attorney General Edwin Meese’s 1985 speech to the…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
Brett Kavanaugh Lauds Friends, Fellow Justices in First Speech Since Bitter Confirmation
Justice Brett Kavanaugh received heroic accolades at a glittering Federalist Society dinner in Washington’s Union Station on Thursday, where he delivered his first public remarks since his contentious confirmation to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh gave a punchy and light-hearted speech, punctuated in spaces with emotional recollections of his nomination to the high court. “Last year, a…Kevin Daley -
- News
4 Things to Know About Republican Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s First Black Attorney General
When he takes office on Dec. 10, Daniel Cameron will make history as Kentucky’s first-ever African American attorney general and its first Republican to hold the office since 1948. Winning 57.8% of the vote on Nov. 5, Cameron trounced his opponent, former Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo, who was seeking a return to the office…Joshua Q. Nelson -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Weighs Trump’s Rollback of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
The Supreme Court heard oral argument Tuesday in three cases challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to roll back the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. President Barack Obama had previously explained that such a program was beyond the scope of the executive branch’s authority, saying in an interview, “I’m not the emperor … My…Elizabeth Slattery -
- Opinion
How Trump Is Reshaping the Courts
President Donald Trump’s two Supreme Court picks, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, may be his highest-profile judicial nominations, but they are just two of the 157 men and women who have reshaped the federal judiciary. “One out of every 4 active judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals have been appointed by President Trump,”…Rob Bluey -
- News
Trump Judicial Nominee Is Moved to Tears After a Liberal Interest Group Accuses Him of Bigotry
Lawrence VanDyke, one of President Donald Trump’s nominees for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was overcome with emotion before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as he defended himself against charges that he would treat LGBT litigants unfairly. The American Bar Association issued a scathing review of VanDyke’s nomination on the eve of…Kevin Daley -
- Opinion
Senators Should Ignore Liberal Lawyers Group When Evaluating Judicial Nominees
The American Bar Association’s ratings used to be—as Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Charles Schumer of New York have often told us—the “gold standard” for evaluating judicial nominees. Now, they’re just fool’s gold. The American Bar Association has given a “not qualified” rating to nine of President Donald Trump’s 211 judicial nominees. Trump…Thomas Jipping -
- News
What’s Behind the Struggle Over the Supreme Court
An unprecedented fight over judicial power is taking place on Capitol Hill as part of fierce partisan opposition to President Donald Trump, legal experts said Tuesday at a gathering of conservatives in Washington. “The conflict over judicial appointments has always been a conflict over judicial power,” Thomas Jipping, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation,…Rachel del Guidice -
- News
The Left Targets Supreme Court With ‘Packing’ Threat, ‘Shortlist’ of Activist Nominees
Perhaps encouraged by Democratic senators in August warning the Supreme Court to “heal” itself or face restructuring, one progressive group has doubled down on advocating court-packing, while another liberal group this week released a “Supreme Court shortlist” of 32 prospective judicial nominees for a future Democratic president, filled mostly with activists but only a few…Fred Lucas -
- News
Left Is Unscrupled in Supreme Court Fights, Author of Kavanaugh Book Says
A former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says that liberals will stop at nothing to defeat the nomination of constitutional conservative justices to the high court. Carrie Severino, now chief counsel with the Judicial Crisis Network, told an audience at the annual conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington on Saturday that the…Jackson Elliott -
- News
Senator Seeks Update After Referring 4 Accusers to Justice Department for Kavanaugh Claims
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, asked the Department of Justice and FBI on Tuesday for an update on the criminal referrals he submitted against witnesses who made potentially false accusations of sexual misconduct against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The Senate Judiciary Committee, when Grassley was chairman in 2018, asked the Justice Department to pursue criminal investigations of…Kevin Daley -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Justices Ponder the Meaning of ‘Sex’
The Supreme Court, returning this week for the beginning of its 2019-2020 term, heard oral argument Tuesday in three cases asking it to decide whether the definition of sex in U.S. law includes sexual orientation and gender identity. At issue is the meaning of the word “sex” in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights…Elizabeth Slattery -
- Opinion
Podcast: What to Expect in the New Supreme Court Term
Heritage Foundation legal expert Elizabeth Slattery discusses what will happen in the 2019-2020 Supreme Court term, which began Monday. How big an impact will all the Brett Kavanaugh controversy have? What’s up with Clarence Thomas being out sick? And what are the blockbuster cases? Slattery breaks it down. Plus, we talk about the NBA’s decision…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
What You Need to Know About the Transgender Case at the Supreme Court
This interview, which is lightly edited, originally aired on “Problematic Women.” Lauren Evans: Welcome back. Virginia and I are in the studio today with religious liberty superstar Emilie Kao. Emilie is an attorney and director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation and has spent the past…Lauren Evans -
- News
Justices Return for a Momentous Supreme Court Term
The Supreme Court returns from its summer hiatus Monday to begin an election year term heavy on politically salient disputes. The high court’s docket for the coming months is a genuine gantlet of highly polarizing disputes that could make the relative comity of its previous term impossible to replicate. The justices will decide by June…Kevin Daley -
- Opinion
What’s at Stake in Supreme Court’s ‘Sex Discrimination’ Case
This week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in cases that ask whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans employment discrimination on the basis of sex, extends to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status. It’s an odd legal argument, given that the public meaning of the…Ryan T. Anderson