Legal News
Reports on lawmaking, constitutional issues, and court cases. The Daily Signal combines news reporting with conservative commentary and legal analysis.
-
- News
‘This Is Lawfare’: AGs Draw Attention to Leftist Group Training Judges to Push Climate Alarmism
Twenty-three Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, demanding the EPA investigate funding for the Environmental Law Institute, which the AGs said attempts to “rig the courts” against American energy. The EPA confirmed receipt and reiterated Zeldin’s dedication to cutting down on wasteful spending from the previous administration….Tyler O’Neil -
- News
State Department Slams Latest Instance of Leftist ‘Judicial Overreach’
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The State Department is condemning a Biden-appointed federal judge’s ruling barring the Trump administration from using the president’s latest travel ban to deny visas to foreigners from certain countries. U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, a 2024 appointee of then-President Joe Biden, ruled Thursday that the State Department cannot rely on the…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
- News
EXCLUSIVE: How Marc Elias Group Used States to Ramp-Up Anti-Trump Lawfare
A litigation group run by veteran Democrat election lawyer Marc Elias helped coordinate legal challenges from California and Illinois to stop President Donald Trump’s agenda. Democracy Forward, where Elias is chairman, coordinated an online conference with lawyers working for the California and Illinois state attorneys general offices to challenge executive orders from Trump, according to…Fred Lucas -
- News
‘Blue Slip’ Brouhaha: Trump, Grassley Spar Over Judicial Nominee Confirmation Procedure
President Donald Trump is seeking to end the long-standing “blue slip” tradition of giving senators veto power over some judicial nominees from their states—but he’s getting pushback from the Republican senator whose mind he needs to change. “I was offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults,”…Jacob Adams -
- Opinion
Justice Kagan Hits the Nail on the Head in Her Complaint About How the Supreme Court Restrains the Judicial Insurrection
District court judges have usurped President Donald Trump’s control over the executive branch, too often requiring the Supreme Court to intervene to stop the judicial insurrection. Unfortunately, the court has often done so via the “shadow docket” by acting on emergency petitions the administration has appealed to the top. While the court has often made…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Ex-DOJ Lawyers Join DNC, Left’s Lawfare Against Trump
Media accounts have cast departing Justice Department lawyers as principled nonpartisan civil servants too conscientious to serve a politicized Trump administration. But several of these lawyers have taken up very political roles after they’ve left the department. Dan Freeman, the litigation director for the Democratic National Committee, touted his time in the Justice Department in…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
What Made Justice Kagan Change Her Mind on Universal Injunctions?
When judges change their mind, they explain their reasons. Or at least they ought to, because that’s what makes their judgments trustworthy. But when the Supreme Court decided Trump v. CASA this term, Justice Elena Kagan suddenly changed her mind on universal injunctions—and didn’t explain why. There, the Supreme Court held that federal courts likely…GianCarlo Canaparo -
- Opinion
Here’s Why the Supreme Court Striking Down Nationwide Injunctions Won’t End the Judicial Insurrection
The Supreme Court case Trump v. CASA cut right to the heart of the judicial insurrection, the trend of district court judges siding with leftist activists to block President Donald Trump’s policies through nationwide preliminary injunctions. The court’s decision rightly struck down the judicial insurrection’s No. 1 strategy, but that doesn’t mean rogue judges won’t…Tyler O’Neil -
- Opinion
Judicial Insurrection Breaks New Ground as Judge Defies Supreme Court Itself
District court judges aren’t just striking down President Donald Trump’s orders, arguably taking presidential power on themselves. In at least one case, a district judge appears to have openly defied the Supreme Court itself. The Supreme Court Monday issued a stay on an April 18 injunction in the case D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security….Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Supreme Court Takes Up Case After Democrat AG Demands Sensitive Docs From Pro-Life Pregnancy Center
The Supreme Court Monday took up the case of a pro-life pregnancy center that claimed religious and political discrimination after New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, a Democrat, issued a subpoena demanding documents on the suspicion that the center had violated a consumer fraud law. Lower courts had ruled that the pregnancy center, First Choice…Tyler O’Neil -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Insists It Will Resolve AR-15 Question ‘Soon’
Last week, the Supreme Court declined to review a 4th U.S. Circuit Court opinion upholding the constitutionality of Maryland’s ban on the possession of certain semiautomatic rifles the state arbitrarily deems “assault weapons.” Faced with a prime opportunity to reinforce its Second Amendment jurisprudence against repeated and flagrant efforts to undermine it, the nation’s highest…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
New Jersey GOP Gubernatorial Nominee Eyes Judicial Openings and Targets Sanctuary Laws
HOLMDEL, New Jersey—Just a few minutes after telling an enthused crowed of supporters that he is committed to the goal of a “safer, more prosperous, and affordable New Jersey,” Jack Ciattarelli told The Daily Signal that he very mindful of the openings on the state supreme court. “We have two new appointments,” the Republican gubernatorial nominee…Kevin Mooney -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Says No to ‘Denominational Preferences’
Catholic Charities performs religious works, according to a unanimous Supreme Court decision in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission. Was that really so hard? Apparently not. Per Justice Sonia Sotomayor, author of the majority opinion, “There may be hard calls to make” where the free exercise of religion is concerned, “but…Jack Fitzhenry -
- Opinion
Why Did the Liberal Justices Write Unanimous Conservative Rulings at the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court handed down three blockbuster rulings Thursday focused on hot-button cultural issues, and all three of them went in the conservative direction. That’s not exactly a surprise—the court has a conservative majority, after all. The first real surprise was that the rulings were unanimous. The second real surprise? Each of the court’s three…Tyler O’Neil -
- News
Supreme Court Rules Wisconsin Court Discriminated Against Catholic Charities Bureau
The Supreme Court has unanimously overturned a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that prevented the Catholic Charities Bureau from receiving a religious tax exemption. Justice Sonia Sotomayor penned the opinion for the court, while Justices Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson each filed concurring opinions. The court, in its opinion released Thursday, held that Wisconsin’s court…Mary Mobley -
- News
Supreme Court Protects Majority Groups From Discrimination
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday upheld the claims of a woman who faced workplace discrimination because of her “majority group” identity—in this case, being a heterosexual. The decision upholds the rights of majority group individuals to be free from “reverse discrimination,” a right considered protected under Title VII of the Civil…Lucy Spence -
- News
Meet Trump’s Judicial Nominee Under Scrutiny for Christian Faith
Former colleagues of one of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees praise him as the “the most brilliant attorney” they’ve ever “had the opportunity to work with.” Trump nominated Joshua Divine to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri on May 6. Divine serves as Missouri’s solicitor general, but his resume…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
- News
Convicted Democrat Ex-Sen. Menendez Accuses Party of Lawfare
Convicted former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., took to X on Friday to accuse his party of weaponizing justice and unfairly ousting him from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in order to advance its political goals. Menendez, 71, resigned from the Senate in 2024 after being sentenced on Jan. 29 to 11 years in prison for…George Caldwell -
- Opinion
Supreme Court Allows a Maine Legislator to Legislate
Most injunction stories seem to favor the Left—but here’s one they may not like as much. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 to grant an injunction requiring the clerk of the Maine House of Representatives to count votes cast by state Rep. Laurel Libby, who had been effectively suspended for her views on gender…Thomas Jipping -
- Opinion
Fact-Checking Justice Sotomayor’s Imaginary Birthright Citizenship Cases
Last week, the Supreme Court held oral arguments in Trump v. CASA, Inc., a case that stems from President Donald Trump’s January executive order on birthright citizenship. At this point in the litigation, the court isn’t addressing the constitutionality of the order itself, but instead will resolve an important procedural question over the power of…Amy Swearer