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
Newt Gingrich Gives the Nod to Kavanaugh for Supreme Court: ‘Knocked It Out of the Park’
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich praised President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh Tuesday and said he knocked it “out of the park.” “I think this was the best performance by the president so far,” Gingrich said on “Fox & Friends.” “You take the total consultation, the way he has approached it. The quality of his… -
news
8 Things to Know About Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh
President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in a prime-time announcement Monday night. If confirmed by the Senate, Kavanaugh would replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy to give the court a likely solid 5-4 conservative majority. “Throughout legal circles, he is considered a judge’s judge, a true thought leader among his peers,”… -
opinion
Trump Hits Another Home Run With Supreme Court Pick Brett Kavanaugh
President Donald Trump announced on Monday night his nomination of D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh, who was included in The Heritage Foundation’s original list of potential Supreme Court nominees, is a very promising choice. The battle lines were already drawn before Trump made his announcement,… -
news
Trump’s Supreme Court List Down to Final Three
President Donald Trump has narrowed down his list of potential Supreme Court nominations to three candidates. With days remaining until Trump makes an expected selection announcement, his choice to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy is down to three federal appeals judges: Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Raymond Kethledge, reported The Associated Press. The candidate interview process has… -
opinion
Canada’s Supreme Court Relegates Religious Beliefs to Second-Tier Status. America, Be Warned.
Canada’s Supreme Court recently ruled 7-2 against Trinity Western University, prioritizing sexual orientation over the free exercise of religion. This ruling should serve as a warning flag to U.S. citizens. Canada was only nine years ahead of the United States in redefining marriage. If the U.S. does not change direction, we could follow in Canada’s… -
opinion
Democrats Are Using Shallow Arguments to Hold Up the Next Supreme Court Nominee. Here’s Why They Won’t Work.
Three signs suggest that Democrats already believe they won’t have the votes to defeat President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. First, Democrats no longer have the filibuster to prevent confirmation votes. They abolished filibusters for all but Supreme Court nominations in 2013 and Republicans took Supreme Court nominations off the filibuster table… -
opinion
Meet the 6 Stellar Judges Leading the Pack on Trump’s Supreme Court Short List
President Donald Trump is expected to announce July 9 his nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. In 2016, Trump put together a list of potential Supreme Court picks during his campaign for president and has amended it twice—bringing the current total to 25 highly qualified conservative individuals. I will be making… -
opinion
In Janus v. AFSCME, Supreme Court Throws Out Bad Precedent on ‘Compelled Speech’
On the last day of its 2017-18 term, the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME on Wednesday strengthened the First Amendment right to free speech and showed how the court should analyze whether to overrule one of its previous decisions. In the labor context, a “bargaining unit” is a group of employees with clear… -
news
Supreme Court Strikes Down Mandatory Union Fees for Government Employees
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that nonunion government workers can't be forced to pay dues or other fees to support a union, further diminishing the power of organized labor and setting up what right-to-work proponents called the “hard work” of protecting free speech rights for the nation's government employees. Right-to-work advocates also expressed concern… -
opinion
17% of Judicial Positions Are Now Vacant
As Sen. Bob Dole once said, the judges a president appoints may be his most profound legacy. Federal judges have become increasingly powerful, much more so than America’s Founders intended. For our system of government to work as designed and to produce the liberty it promises, presidents must appoint the right kind of judges. President… -
opinion
Supreme Court Usurps Power of Congress, Regulates Interstate Commerce
Thursday’s Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. threatens to upend online commerce, drive thousands of small entrepreneurs out of business, and hike prices for hundreds of millions of consumers. Under prior law, states could not force remote retailers to collect and remit sales taxes on their behalf unless the business had a… -
opinion
Supreme Court Botches Wayfair Ruling, Putting Small Online Businesses at Risk of New Taxes
Small online businesses and consumers around the country will suffer the most from the Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc. It’s now up to Congress to protect internet retailers from taxes imposed by states other than their own. The court essentially ruled that all 50 states and the tens of thousands… -
opinion
What We Need in Our Federal Judges
The level of conflict over President Donald Trump’s judicial nominations exceeds anything in recent memory. That conflict will only escalate should a new vacancy occur on the Supreme Court—a possibility that has been floated in recent months. In one important way, the process of appointing federal judges is similar to any hiring process: It must… -
opinion
Podcast: The Legal Grounds on Which Jack Phillips Won Supreme Court Case
The Heritage Foundation’s Emilie Kao joins us to discuss the Supreme Court ruling Monday on the case of Jack Phillips, a Christian baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. Plus: Bill Clinton gets defensive about Monica Lewinsky and the #MeToo movement. -
opinion
Supreme Court Upholds Baker’s Right to Disagree With Gay Marriage in Marketplace
Monday’s 7-2 Supreme Court decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission is a big win for the religious liberty of all Americans. The court made it clear that hostility toward religion has no place in America, least of all in our government. At the center of Masterpiece Cakeshop is Jack Phillips, the Christian… -
opinion
In Cake Case, 7 Supreme Court Justices Uphold Free Exercise of Religion
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Monday that a Colorado baker’s right to exercise his religion had been denied when a state agency penalized him for declining, based on his religious beliefs, to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion, and even liberal Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena… -
opinion
This Supreme Court Case Could Change Online Shopping Overnight
Online commerce as we know it could soon radically change. In a case it recently heard, the Supreme Court could eliminate the current requirement that a business have some physical connection with a state before the state can tax the business. If that were to happen, consumers would pay more for goods ordered online, small… -
opinion
No, 5 Men on the Supreme Court Did Not Just Decimate #MeToo
Last week, the Supreme Court released its opinions for Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, and the majority holding set off a firestorm of criticism from advocates for the #MeToo campaign against sexual assault and harassment. Some advocates went so far as to accuse five men (the case was decided by a 5-4 majority) of seriously… -
opinion
Supreme Court to Police: Get Off the People’s Lawn
This week, the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment does not permit a police officer to enter uninvited onto someone’s driveway to search a parked vehicle, without first obtaining a warrant. That’s an important ruling, since no one wants police officers roaming across their private property searching for evidence of a crime. But Justice… -
opinion
Democrat Obstruction in the Senate Is Hurting Our Courts
Our federal courts are facing a vacancy crisis like never before. The number of judicial vacancies across the federal bench has averaged 142 so far this year. The only year that came close to this was 1991, which had an average of 138 vacancies—but that was shortly after Congress created 85 new judicial positions. More…