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
What This Supreme Court Ruling Means for the Washington Redskins, Other Brands Deemed ‘Offensive’
Should “offensive” brand names be allowed to get a federal trademark? The Supreme Court answered “yes” on Monday, handing a decisive win to Simon Tam and his band, The Slants. Tam had tried to register a trademark for his band’s name, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied his application, citing a provision of… -
opinion
2 Cases Threaten to Shut Down Public Prayer. Why the Supreme Court May Need to Act.
Two federal appeals courts are considering whether elected leaders throughout the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions must abandon the 200-year-old practice of opening local meetings with an invocation. Both cases could end up before the Supreme Court by Christmas time. In one case, a self-described pagan sued the board of commissioners of Jackson County, Michigan, arguing… -
opinion
I’m an Attorney General Asking Supreme Court to Uphold Trump’s Travel Ban. Here’s Why.
On Tuesday, I filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily pausing the entry of foreign nationals from six terror-prone counties. Supreme Court review is needed because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit recently ruled against the valid executive order. I am leading a multistate… -
opinion
Terror Has Hit London Again. Why US Courts Should Let Government Do Its Job.
A new terror strike in London has renewed the world’s focus on transnational Islamist terrorism, rekindling the old debate over how best to fight it. The debate is understandable, but it comes far too late. It has been nearly 16 years since the 9/11 attacks, and ongoing terrorist activity has fit a predictable pattern—as has the U.S. response. The… -
news
Judicial Watch Sues State Department, USAID for Documents on Funding to Soros’ Foreign Campaigns
Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development for records on funding awarded to George Soros’ Open Society Foundation-Albania, the conservative nonprofit watchdog announced Wednesday. The suit was filed May 26 after both government agencies failed to respond to Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act requests. The… -
opinion
North Carolina Strikes Out a Fifth Time at the Supreme Court Over Redistricting
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the latest redistricting plan from North Carolina on Monday, holding that the state Legislature had impermissibly used race in the redistricting process for two congressional districts. The decision in Cooper v. Harris was confusing and did not clarify what states can and can’t do to comply with the Voting… -
opinion
Judges Who Fret Over Trump’s Motives Are Ignoring US Judicial History
President Donald Trump’s revised executive order on immigration is back in court, and therefore back in the news. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on the order’s constitutionality. Opponents of the order claim that it violates the Establishment Clause by setting up a ban on Muslim… -
news
Lawmakers Ask Attorney General to Take Second Look at Lerner’s Case
Congressmen are asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to re-examine the case of IRS division chief Lois Lerner. “We believe that she targeted people based on their political philosophy, which is a crime, and secondly, we believe that she has lied to the inspector general when that was being investigated,” Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., told The… -
news
Younger Judicial Nominees Give Trump Chance for Legacy in Courts
President Donald Trump will begin to leave his mark on the lower courts of the federal judiciary with 10 nominees named Monday, many of them judges still in their 40s. “The president followed the principles that were used to guide that list to select the additional eight individuals,” @PressSec says. Shortly after 7:30 p.m. Monday,… -
opinion
In His First Criminal Cases, Neil Gorsuch Already Mirroring Scalia
It is only Neil M. Gorsuch’s first month as an associate justice on the Supreme Court, but he is already showing just how similar his judicial philosophy is to that of his predecessor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia. In several difficult criminal law cases, Gorsuch has asked sharp questions from the bench and cast one… -
opinion
Trump’s Gorsuch Success Paves Way for Nation Governed by Lawmakers, Not Judges
Long after Donald Trump has left the White House, Justice Neil Gorsuch will likely still be at the Supreme Court. Once it didn’t look like it would happen this way. And it’s to the enormous credit of the Trump White House—and the Trump campaign, which relentlessly focused on the Supreme Court—that it did happen. Of… -
opinion
Why We Have Mitch McConnell to Thank for Justice Neil Gorsuch
It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day for a Rose Garden ceremony to swear in Neil Gorsuch as the newest associate justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. And one decision, made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just over a year ago, is the reason it was all possible. Not guaranteed, but possible. When… -
news
Gorsuch Joins the Supreme Court With Nod to Scalia
Neil M. Gorsuch joined the Supreme Court on Monday morning as Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for whom Gorsuch once clerked, administered the judicial oath of office in a formal Rose Garden ceremony. The White House event shortly after 11 a.m. followed a private swearing-in two hours earlier at the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice John… -
news
4 Lessons Conservatives Should Learn From Getting Gorsuch Through
Leaders of organizations that worked to help win Senate confirmation for Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, say conservatives can learn valuable lessons from the process. “I think first of all you start with an incredibly talented, well-qualified candidate like Gorsuch and that makes the whole job easier,” Carrie Severino, chief counsel… -
opinion
Neil Gorsuch to Fill Supreme Court Vacancy at Critical Time for the Nation
After four days of scrutinizing hearings and nearly a week of vociferous debate, the U.S. Senate has voted 54-45 to confirm Neil Gorsuch as an associate Supreme Court justice. Gorsuch’s sterling credentials and demonstrated fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law should give all Americans confidence that he will be a fair and… -
news
Senate Confirms Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court
The Senate voted 54-45 on Friday to confirm Judge Neil M. Gorsuch as the 113th person to serve on the Supreme Court. Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge who was nominated Jan. 31 by President Donald Trump, will be sworn into office in two ceremonies Monday, the White House said. “As a deep believer in the… -
news
Facing Democrat Filibuster on Gorsuch, McConnell Invokes Nuclear Option
Four years after Senate Democrats deployed the so-called nuclear option, Senate Republicans triggered it Thursday by a party-line vote of 52-48 to move President Donald Trump’s nominee closer to joining the Supreme Court. The successful bid by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to invoke the nuclear option means waiver of the 60-vote threshold to end debate on… -
news
All Sitting Supreme Court Justices Have Been Involved With Federalist Society, Labeled a ‘Front’ Group by Democrats
Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court choice, came under fire from Democrats Monday because of his involvement with the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization. “I don’t know what Donald Trump’s judicial philosophy [is] as president, but we sure do know the judicial philosophy of the Federalist Society, which was given the responsibility… -
opinion
The 2 Cases That Prove Neil Gorsuch Is Right for the Supreme Court
As modern Supreme Court nomination hearings go, Judge Neil Gorsuch’s were surprisingly uneventful. One of his judicial decisions that drew fire is Hobby Lobby v. Burwell. That case determined whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act should prevent the federal government from imposing the Affordable Care Act’s regulatory contraceptives mandate on a particular family-owned business contrary… -
news
After Clearing Committee Vote, Here’s What’s Next for Gorsuch
In a vote along party lines, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-9 to pass Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, out of committee. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Gorsuch’s nomination will now move to the Senate. Chairman @ChuckGrassley: The nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to be Associate Justice of #SCOTUS is…