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
Looking Back: What I Learned at the Kavanaugh Confirmation
Brett Kavanaugh was known as an originalist jurist and had a strong record for protecting life and constitutional rights. I was at the White House for President Donald Trump’s formal announcement of Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, and I pledged that SBA List would mobilize the pro-life grassroots nationwide and in key Senate battleground… -
opinion
Supreme Court Imperils Parents’ Right to Pass Their Values on to Children
The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bostock v. Clayton, which ruled that the Title VII prohibition on sex discrimination in employment extends to discrimination based on sexual orientation and transgender status, is likely to have more widespread implications than many people realize. Many (including Justice Samuel Alito in his scathing dissent) warn that the ruling… -
news
6 Big Takeaways From the Attorney General’s Capitol Hill Testimony
Attorney General William Barr announced a new investigation Tuesday while strongly defending the Justice Department’s actions in protecting the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon. Barr’s comments came in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, a hearing that not only was partisan as expected but characterized by rudeness by the panel’s Democrats. A Democrat would ask… -
opinion
Supreme Court’s Decision Allows Nevada Governor to Favor Caesars Palace Over Calvary Chapel
One bad decision can be a mistake. Two is a pattern. In late May, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Supreme Court’s four liberal members in South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom to deny a request from a California church that it be allowed to operate under the same conditions as similar secular… -
opinion
Senate Democrats Are Trying to Play Games With the Courts. The Courts Should Refuse to Play.
“The less you say, the better.” That was the advice I received from the judge I clerked for about orders on motions for recusal. This is good advice that 11th Circuit Judges Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck should heed before responding to Senate Democrats’ astonishing political attack on their judicial independence. As Ed Whelan, president… -
news
Attorney General Says Hollywood ‘Kowtowing’ to China, Warns US Executives Against Acting as Chinese Foreign Agents
Attorney General William Barr said Thursday the Chinese government has achieved a “massive propaganda coup” by shaping the content coming out of Hollywood, while warning U.S. business executives against acting as agents of the communist regime in possible violation of foreign lobbying laws. Speaking at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Barr offered a sober… -
opinion
Judicial Council Rightly Rebukes Judge Lynn Adelman for Law Review Diatribe
Federal district court Judge Lynn Adelman had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day late last month when the Judicial Council of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to publicly admonish him for his intemperate 35-page article, “The Roberts Court’s Assault on Democracy,” which personally attacked Chief Justice John Roberts, President Donald… -
opinion
Supreme Court Decides Half of Oklahoma Has Been an Indian Reservation for Past 113 Years
The Supreme Court issued one of the most consequential decisions of its term on its last day Thursday. No, it wasn’t either of the decisions about President Donald Trump’s tax returns. Instead, it involved a case that received little attention at the time it was argued. But how often can court watchers say that a case… -
opinion
Problematic Women: Supreme Court Ruling Protects Little Sisters’ Religious Convictions
The Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic order of nuns, secured a major victory Wednesday. The nuns had been sued by Pennsylvania and New Jersey over their refusal, on religious grounds, to offer birth control and abortion-inducing drugs as part of their employees’ health care coverage. Amy Swearer, Heritage Foundation legal fellow, joins “Problematic Women”… -
opinion
Little Sisters of Poor Win Big at Supreme Court, but Fight Isn’t Over
Why are some in the government so determined to force a group of Catholic nuns to violate their beliefs? That’s a question we all should be asking as we celebrate Wednesday’s Supreme Court victory for the Little Sisters. Regrettably, Wednesday’s victory is unlikely to be the end of the government harassment of the nuns. The… -
opinion
Supreme Court’s ‘Faithless Electors’ Decision Safeguards Electoral College
In a decision issued Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that states can punish presidential electors who break their pledge to support the presidential candidate preferred by the citizens of their states. The ruling affirms the Electoral College as an important part of our constitutional structure—one that balances popular sovereignty with the benefits of a federal… -
news
Electors Must Vote for Their State’s Preferred Candidate, Supreme Court Rules
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that states can require members of the Electoral College to vote for the same presidential candidate as their respective state. The ruling puts an end to the occasional so-called faithless electors, who vote for a candidate different than that of the state they are representing. Though many states already have laws… -
news
500 Investigations Probe Arson, Destruction of Property in Riots, Attorney General Says
Attorney General William Barr said Thursday that the Department of Justice is conducting about 500 investigations into acts of arson and destruction associated with the protests and riots over the past several weeks. The DOJ is ramping up investigations into the activists who participated in destruction of private and public property over the last several weeks, Barr… -
opinion
Supreme Court’s LGBTQ Decision Is Formula for Chaos
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that homosexual and transgender individuals are covered by the anti-discrimination provision, Title VII, of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in his opinion: “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned… -
opinion
2 Federal Courts, 1 Constitutional Right
Two federal appeals courts last week issued decisions on challenges to coronavirus-related executive orders by the governors of Illinois and Louisiana. In each case, churches and religious organizations challenged a governor’s restrictions on meeting in person at houses of worship while allowing other group activities to proceed, saying those orders violated the First Amendment. Illinois… -
opinion
Justice Gorsuch’s Misguided Sex Discrimination Opinion Fails Logic Test
Justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion claims to apply a simple and straightforward test: “An employer violates Title VII when it intentionally fires an individual employee based in part on sex.” But he refuses to consider what applying this simple—in reality, simplistic—test actually requires. And not just under Title VII, but under every nondiscrimination law that includes “sex”… -
opinion
DACA Ruling Is Supreme Court’s Latest Act of Political Timidity
With the Supreme Court’s latest erroneous decision on immigration, Chief Justice John Roberts and other justices have done lasting damage to the Constitution, the rule of law, and accountable government. It is not just the legally wrong decision Thursday in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, in which Roberts and… -
opinion
Problematic Women: How Women Lose in Supreme Court’s Decision to Redefine Sex
American women have lost an important battle. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of protecting new LGBT rights Monday in the case of R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The ruling redefines sex to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Kate Anderson, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, joins… -
news
Left Hails Supreme Court Decision That ‘Sex’ Includes Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
The Supreme Court’s landmark decision that federal laws against discrimination based on sex also protect LGBT individuals has liberals and conservatives alike considering the effects on employment polices across America. The high court ruled 6-3 Monday that laws banning discrimination based on sex include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The decision saw… -
opinion
Gorsuch Helps Transform the Supreme Court Into the Supreme Legislature on LGBT Rights
In what dissenting Justice Samuel Alito called one of the most “brazen abuse[s]” of the Supreme Court’s authority, a six-member majority of the court led by Justice Neil Gorsuch has rewritten Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the definition of “sex.” Why bother trying…