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
Little Sisters to the Supreme Court: We’ll Have ‘Nun of It’
In a rare public appearance, a group of nuns stood before the Supreme Court Wednesday to rally against a provision in the Affordable Care Act that they believe forces them to violate their deeply-held religious beliefs. The provision, often called the “contraceptive mandate,” requires employers, including the Little Sisters of the Poor, to offer coverage… -
opinion
Big Brother Bullies Little Sisters at the Supreme Court
The plaza of the U.S. Supreme Court and the courtroom itself were full of people you don’t normally see at the court—priests, ministers, and nuns of various religious orders. They were there Wednesday to hear the U.S. government argue that the Little Sisters of the Poor—an order of Catholic nuns who have served the elderly… -
opinion
Little Sisters of the Poor Case Heads to Supreme Court
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week in a group of cases challenging the Obamacare requirement that nonprofit employers offer their employees health care coverage that includes Plan B, ella, and other potentially life-ending drugs and devices, contraception, and sterilization. The challengers in the consolidated cases, captioned Zubik v. Burwell, include the Little… -
opinion
The People Should Determine What Kind of Supreme Court They Wish to Have
The opening words of the preamble to the United States Constitution are familiar to us all: “We the People.” But what exactly do they mean? It was by “the People” that the Constitution was written and ratified. It is for “the People” that my colleagues and I, along with every other public official across these… -
news
Poll: Majority Support Delaying Supreme Court Replacement
Republican opposition to any Supreme Court nominee by President Barack Obama may be politically popular, a new poll claims. Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, distributed the poll findings in a memo to members of the Republican Senate Conference to show public perceptions on filling the current Supreme Court vacancy, Politico reports. The opinion poll was conducted… -
opinion
Attorney General Lynch Looks Into Prosecuting ‘Climate Change Deniers’
In news that should shock and anger Americans, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that not only has she discussed internally the possibility of pursuing civil actions against so-called “climate change deniers,” but she has “referred it to the FBI to consider whether or not it meets the criteria… -
news
Washington Supreme Court Will Hear Case of 70-Year-Old Florist Sued for Declining Gay Wedding Request
The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a 70-year-old florist who declined to make flower arrangements for a gay couple’s wedding. The florist, Barronelle Stutzman, was found guilty by lower courts of violating the state’s anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws. “Barronelle and many others like her around the country have been… -
opinion
Give the American People a Voice on the Next Supreme Court Justice
President Barack Obama will soon nominate a justice to fill Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. Senate Republicans have vowed to ignore him until after the voters decide in November who will serve as our next president. That’s exactly what should happen. -
opinion
How a New Liberal Supreme Court Justice Would Change America
It’s another day, and another tantrum from Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. But it doesn’t matter how much he jumps up and down and stomps his feet—we aren’t going to let the far left get away with denying the American people the opportunity to be heard. Letting the American people decide this question is the reasonable approach…. -
news
Will Tie Votes on the Supreme Court Be a Problem? These 2 Justices Don’t Think So.
For more than a century, the Supreme Court’s bench has had nine spots, enough to round out the roster of a baseball team. With the death of Antonin Scalia, eight justices remain. Now President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats are pushing Republicans to OK an Obama recruit to replace Scalia. But Republicans say the court can field cases… -
news
Democrats Count on Public Pressure as Their ‘Best Weapon’ in Supreme Court Fight
From the steps of the Supreme Court, Senate Democrats unleashed their latest messaging barrage in the battle over whether President Obama should fill the open seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blasted Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, after the chairman of the Judiciary Committee accused Democrats earlier Thursday of throwing… -
news
6 Supreme Court Rulings That Could Be Overturned If a Liberal Replaced Scalia
If President Barack Obama or a future Democratic successor were to replace late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia with a liberal, a host of prior high court decisions that favored conservatives could be revisited, and possibly be overruled completely. The reach of cases that could get another look by a liberal majority Supreme Court touch on… -
news
Flashback to 1992: When Democrats Halted a Republican President’s Judicial Nominees
If Senate Democrats get their way, Republicans won’t follow their example. That is, Senate Republicans in 2016 won’t act as Democrats did when they blocked court confirmations in 1992. Twenty-four years ago looked a lot like the inverse of today. On the eve of a presidential election, there was a Republican in the White House and… -
news
Next President Could Stack the Deck as Supreme Court Justices Near Retirement
With three of the surviving Supreme Court justices in or near their 80s, successors named by the next president could shift the ideological makeup of the nation’s highest court. Within hours of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death Saturday at age 79, President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans began to clash over whether he should nominate, and the Senate confirm, a… -
opinion
Fight to Replace Scalia Proves Supreme Court Has Become Too Powerful
The stakes are high—very high. Finding a replacement for deceased Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia will be a battle royale. But why should one government official’s position be so existentially important? Yes, control of the Supreme Court hangs in the balance, but that raises the question as to why the Court itself is so… -
news
After Facing Questions on Abortion, 2 Obama Judicial Nominees Fail to Advance
The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding up two of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees for federal judgeships in Pennsylvania. Robert Colville and John Younge, both nominated for lifetime judicial positions, did not receive a vote at Thursday’s committee meeting. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the move was meant to give senators more time to review “their records… -
opinion
Why 25 States Have Asked Supreme Court to Halt This Costly EPA Regulation
Twenty-five states (and four state agencies) are petitioning the Supreme Court to halt the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Clean Power Plan, after the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to stay the rule last week. The states described the Clean Power Plan “as the most far reaching and burdensome rule EPA… -
news
GOP Senators Push Attorney General to Investigate EPA Over WOTUS
Two Republican senators opened up a broadside assault against the Environmental Protection Agency last week in the ongoing battle over President Barack Obama’s controversial “Waters of the U.S.” rule (WOTUS), a regulation that extends federal authority over smaller waterways. In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Sens. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Ben Sasse… -
news
Obama Judicial Nominee Who Accused Reagan of ‘Bigotry’ Faces Confirmation Vote
President Obama’s nominee for a federal judgeship in Minnesota accused the Reagan administration of “bigotry” in her writing for the prestigious UCLA Law Review in 1989. Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Wilhelmina Wright, who is expected to win Senate confirmation to federal District Court in her state next Tuesday, wrote the accusation shortly before graduating Harvard Law… -
opinion
From Inside the Supreme Court, the Key Exchanges on a Case Pitting Unions vs. First Amendment
This morning, the Supreme Court heard a challenge to the requirement in California that government employees, such as public school teachers, pay fees to the local union even if they choose not to join the union. First Amendment Rights In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, Rebecca Friedrichs and other teachers argue that forcing them to…