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
‘We Finished the Race,’ Coach Kennedy Says After Taking Knee in Prayer on Field Following Supreme Court Victory
BREMERTON, Wash.—Fans from both teams cheered as Joe Kennedy knelt in silent prayer for 10 seconds at the 50-yard line. It was the moment of culmination after a more than 7-year legal battle over prayer that ended with a victory for Kennedy at the Supreme Court. “I used to run marathons quite a bit and… -
opinion
3 Supreme Court Cases Could Shake Up the Administrative State
The major theme of the coming Supreme Court term is administrative law. Once obscure, this body of statutes, rules, and cases governing the structure and conduct of the federal government’s administrative agencies gained public attention through recent eye-catching cases—like the ones that downed the student loan cancellation plan and set aside the clean power plan… -
opinion
More Courts Uphold Bans on ‘Gender-Affirming’ Care for Minors. Is Supreme Court Next Stop?
Activist judges who believe the propaganda on “lifesaving” “gender-affirming” care for minors are weeping into their lattes this month as a second federal appellate court has just upheld a duly enacted state law banning these practices for children. A few short weeks after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld Tennessee’s law… -
opinion
South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Post-Heartbeat Abortions
In June 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court said what we can all read for ourselves, that the U.S. Constitution “does not confer a right to abortion.” That shifted the venue for those who want to eliminate any legal protection for the unborn to state courts and state constitutions…. -
news
Pence Pledges to ‘Clean House’ at the Justice Department
ATLANTA—Former Vice President Mike Pence pledged that, if elected president in 2024, he would fire the senior leaders at the Department of Justice in the wake of the Russia collusion hoax and the FBI’s targeting “radical-traditional Catholics.” “If I become president of the United States, we’re going to clean house on the entire top floor of the… -
opinion
The Left’s Relentless, Unjustified Assaults on the Supreme Court’s Legitimacy
In recent years, the Supreme Court has been the target of a relentless and strategic campaign aimed at undermining its credibility and impartiality. Left-wing publications such as ProPublica, Slate, and The Guardian have led an orchestrated assault against the high court’s Republican-appointed justices, and their message has been amplified by Senate Democrats. Their motive? To… -
opinion
Joe Biden’s DOJ: Where Justice Goes to Die
The Department of Justice should be honest and call itself Biden Campaign Headquarters. As a fearsome whiff of East Germany wafts through its windows, this Cabinet agency persecutes Donald Trump, the president’s chief political rival, and keeps the heat off of the Bidens. Regardless, temperatures are hotter than July. Special counsel Jack Smith’s four-count indictment… -
opinion
Upcoming Supreme Court Cases Could Dramatically Rein in Regulatory Agencies
This fall, the Supreme Court will hear several cases affording promising opportunities to rein in the federal administrative state. The court has agreed to decide cases that challenge the practice of federal courts showing judicial deference to agency interpretations of the laws they are charged with enforcing as well as the constitutionality of an agency… -
news
Bureaucrats ‘Don’t Give a Damn’: Ted Cruz EVISCERATES Chevron Deference in New Supreme Court Filing
Sen. Ted Cruz took aim Thursday at a Supreme Court precedent that empowers the administrative state at the expense of the people's will and the Framers' vision in the Constitution. This Supreme Court doctrine has "played an enormous role in the expansion of the administrative state," Cruz, a Texas Republican, told The Daily Signal in… -
news
‘NEVER WHAT FOUNDERS INTENDED’: Supreme Court Should Strike Down Chevron Deference, Conservatives Say
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A conservative nonprofit launched by former Vice President Mike Pence is representing 11 conservative groups in supporting fishermen challenging the extensive power of the federal bureaucracy. Advancing American Freedom, which plays no role in Pence's 2024 presidential campaign, filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case Loper Bright Enterprises v…. -
opinion
Harvard Law Professor Forgets Why Judicial Review Exists
G.K. Chesterton, that extraordinary author and philosopher, once told a story about a fence blocking a road. Two people approach it, and the first says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” The second person, however, is smarter and says, “If you don’t see the use of it, I won’t… -
news
Woman at Center of Supreme Court Case Describes Death Threats, Harassment, ‘Doxxing’
United States Supreme Court cases have become fraught with peril for those who differ from leftist ideology: Litigants face potential death threats, protesting, harassment, and "doxxing" (putting their personal information, even their addresses, online to encourage harassment). Justices have faced the same—including at least one attempted assassination. Following the leak of the draft Supreme Court… -
opinion
How Democrats and Their Media Allies Cooked Up a Phony Supreme Court ‘Legitimacy Crisis’
The legacy media has signaled that it’s all in on the Left’s cooked-up Supreme Court “legitimacy crisis.” This week, Senate Democrats plan to vote on Supreme Court ethics rules that are clearly meant to give them the ability to hector and harass the court to get the decisions they want. The vote coincides with an… -
opinion
Supreme Court Term Limits: Still a ‘Solution’ in Search of a Problem
Whoever came up with the axiom “It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, but how you play the game” probably didn’t lose very often. The Left today is losing at the Supreme Court, and they don’t like it one bit. They respond by smearing the justices responsible for decisions they don’t like with fake… -
opinion
Some Supreme Court Justices Have a Slippery Handle on Facts
The U.S. Supreme Court is finished for the term, but questions about accuracy should follow some justices into the next session in October. For example: Was Justice Sonia Sotomayor correct in her description of a key historical event in a recent dissenting opinion—or did she obscure details to suit her purposes? And with the revelation… -
news
Vivek Ramaswamy Releases Supreme Court Picks
Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy released a list of judges Monday that he will consider for top judicial appointments should he become president of the United States. Ramaswamy's list of Supreme Court candidates includes James Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit; Lawrence VanDyke of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the… -
opinion
5 Major Cases That Highlighted Supreme Court’s 2022-2023 Term
Another year, another Supreme Court term in the books. And again, the court kept everyone waiting for many of its most consequential decisions until the last days of the 2022-2023 term. It was worth the wait, however, since the court issued important decisions that proved to be victories for the rule of law on affirmative… -
opinion
Smoke, Mirrors, and Justice
In the recently concluded term, the Supreme Court found itself in a storm of consequential cases, overturning precedents, and taking controversial stances that shifted society and upheld constitutional values. Democrats have, in reaction, decried the Supreme Court, framing it as a rogue entity, a politicized institution that has lost its credibility. They lament what they… -
news
Sotomayor’s Staff Leaned on Colleges, Libraries to Buy Her Book Ahead of Speaking Gigs
Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s taxpayer-funded staff frequently pushed colleges and libraries to purchase her books ahead of speaking engagements, according to The Associated Press. Supreme Court staff often assisted with arranging speaking engagements designed to promote Sotomayor’s books, which have earned the justice a minimum of $3.7 million since she took her seat on the bench… -
opinion
To Gain Power, the Left Seeks to Destroy the Supreme Court
Always remember: Any institution the Left doesn’t control, it will seek to destroy. The Supreme Court dealt a series of serious blows to the Left’s agenda this summer, and leftists aren’t taking it well. First, the high court ended racial discrimination in college admissions, which the Left views as essential to upholding the diversity, equity,…