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
Gorsuch Shows Legal Skill, Commitment to Rule of Law in Day 2 Confirmation Hearing
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee met today to question Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch in the second day of his confirmation hearing. From the travel ban to abortion to statutory interpretation, here are some of the key exchanges between Gorsuch and the Senators. Judicial Independence Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, kicked off the…Elizabeth Slattery -
- News
6 Takeaways From Neil Gorsuch’s First Day of Questioning
President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, addressed multiple hot-button issues Tuesday during his first day of questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The controversial topics included abortion, religious liberty, gun rights, sexism, and Trump’s so-called travel ban. Here are six takeaways from Gorsuch’s responses to questions from the committee’s Democrats and…Kelsey Bolar -
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Gorsuch Responds to Sexism Allegation From Former Student
During his Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Judge Neil Gorsuch addressed accusations from a former law student claiming he had encouraged sexist hiring practices in the classroom. The student in question, Jennifer Sisk, took one of the Supreme Court nominee’s classes at the University of Colorado Law School and wrote in a letter sent to lawmakers…Caleb Ecarma -
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Judge Warns 9th Circuit’s Use of Trump Campaign Pledge ‘Judicial Psychoanalysis’
A federal judge is raising an alarm about “judicial psychoanalysis” resulting from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on President Donald Trump’s executive order on “extreme vetting.” Last week, the 9th Circuit voted against rehearing the case that a three-judge panel had previously ruled on in affirming the federal district judge’s temporary restraining…Fred Lucas -
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Gorsuch Faces Questions About Supreme Court and Guns
Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, faced questions about the Second Amendment during the second day of his confirmation hearings, to which he responded, “Heller is the law of the land.” In the Heller decision, a case formerly known as District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court overturned Chicago and Washington, D.C.’s, virtual…Kelsey Bolar -
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What Gorsuch Said When a Democrat Asked Him About Roe v. Wade
Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, told senators during his second day of confirmation hearings Tuesday that he could not forecast how he would decide cases involving abortion. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Gorsuch, “Do you view Roe as having superprecedent?” The Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in Roe v. Wade…Rachel del Guidice -
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Neil Gorsuch Draws Praise From Democrats as Confirmation Hearings Open
Judge Neil Gorsuch’s dedication to upholding the rule of law became the focus of the Supreme Court nominee’s first day of Senate confirmation hearings. “My decisions have never reflected a judgment about the people before me—only my best judgment about the law and facts at issue in each particular case,” Gorsuch said in his prepared…Rachel del Guidice -
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Former Female Student Making Allegations Against Gorsuch Has Ties to Obama, Democrats
Judge Neil Gorsuch’s former law student who is accusing the Supreme Court nominee of encouraging firms to engage in sexist and possibly illegal hiring practices has close ties to the Democratic Party, The Daily Signal has learned. Jennifer Sisk, a 2016 graduate of the University of Colorado Law School, wrote a scathing letter to the…Kelsey Bolar -
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Former Clerk Explains Her Support for Gorsuch
Janie Nitze has known Judge Neil Gorsuch for nearly a decade. In 2008, after graduating with honors from Harvard Law School, she clerked for him at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, based in Denver. Since then, Nitze’s career has taken her to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she clerked for Justice Sonia Sotomayor,…Kelsey Bolar -
- Opinion
How Neil Gorsuch’s Senate Confirmation Process Compares to Recent Ones
On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin its hearing on the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is confident that the Senate will confirm Gorsuch before the Easter recess, which is set to begin April 10. As Senate Democrats have scrambled to…Elizabeth Slattery -
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Here Are 4 Possible Outcomes for Gorsuch’s Confirmation Process
Confirmation hearings for Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court choice, will begin Monday, with the process culminating in one of four likely outcomes. Gorsuch, a 49-year-old federal appeals judge, could potentially see these outcomes as his confirmation process unfolds: He is confirmed with at least 51 votes after there are 60 votes to end…Rachel del Guidice -
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Long Before Neil Gorsuch, Judges Had to Be Liberal Enough for Chuck Schumer
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer arguably telegraphed his opposition to Neil Gorsuch as the next Supreme Court justice almost 16 years ago when, as a freshman Democrat from New York, he broke what he called a taboo to say the Senate publicly should make ideology a factor in confirming judges. “Schumer deserves credit or blame—depending…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Justice Clarence Thomas Questions Congress’ Power to Regulate Business Abroad
Is the United States the world commerce police? In a recent opinion, in which he dissented from the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear a case, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that Congress’ power to regulate international commerce may be broad, but not as broad as some lawmakers and judges would have it. In his dissenting opinion…John-Michael Seibler -
- Opinion
Clarence Thomas Casts Doubt on the Constitutionality of Civil Forfeiture
This week, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas signaled his belief that civil asset forfeiture laws have strayed too far from their narrow historical precedent and questioned whether “modern civil-forfeiture statutes can be squared with the Due Process Clause and our nation’s history.” The news stems from a case, Lisa Olivia Leonard v. Texas, which—like so…Jason Snead -
- Opinion
Supreme Court’s Pass on Transgender Case Will Ignite Further Lawsuits
For the past few months, the legal community has been preparing for a grand showdown before the Supreme Court on student privacy rights. The central question at hand: Must schools allow a student into sleeping facilities, locker rooms, and restrooms reserved for the opposite sex if that student subjectively identifies with that sex? The prospects…Jim Campbell -
- News
Supreme Court Watchers Hail Neil Gorsuch as a Judge Who ‘Goes Deep’
Neil Gorsuch will be a defender of the rule of law and a worthy successor to Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, a panel of prominent lawyers said Tuesday at The Heritage Foundation. “I think that with this addition [of] Judge Gorsuch, we’ll see … a lot more pressure put on the Congress to do…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
Neil Gorsuch’s Proven Track Record of Protecting Religious Liberty
President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch is a solid originalist and textualist when it comes to interpreting the Constitution and statutory authority. This alone is reason to believe he will be a good Supreme Court justice, but his strong rulings on religious liberty only bolster his qualifications. On this issue, he has…Travis Weber -
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- Opinion
Court Ruling Against Trump’s Executive Order Shows the Worst of Judicial Activism
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has repeated the mistakes made by the district court judge who stayed President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily suspending visas from seven terrorist havens. Both the judge in Washington state and the San Francisco-based circuit court have now refused to recognize the authority of Congress…Hans von Spakovsky