BIOGRAPHY -- Page 50
In an effort to help Blindspot, Daredevil had a mad plan. He placed a contract on his own head at the Bar With No Name, raising the price until it was competitive enough to draw out Bullseye. Matt remembered Bullseye was responsible for refining the chemicals that gave him and Ikari their enhanced senses. He hoped he could survive Bullseye’s assassination attempt, and then beat the information about the chemical out of his old nemesis. Facing down Bullseye’s incoming sniper bullet, however, Matt realized he was also looking for something deeper. Having abandoned the 
church ever since Karen’s death, Matt found himself thinking about God again after Blindspot’s injuries. He needed a sign, and the drive he felt in that moment to beat Bullseye and save Blindspot told him he would never stop fighting. Tragically, he acquired a sample of the chemical too late. At the hospital, Matt discovered that Sam’s mother had checked him out, leaving no word of where to find them. [Daredevil (5th series) #15-16]
In his effort to reconnect with the church, Matt found a local priest named Father Jordan whom he trusted. Jordan was a member of the militant Catholic order known as the Ordo Draconum, and proved he was a man of strength and faith. Matt confessed the full story about his identity as Daredevil and the Purple Children’s decision to erase that knowledge, believing it was necessary to acknowledge how he benefited from this act. His big plan to end all crime in New York City was nearly ready, but he couldn’t proceed if he was acting in bad faith. Father Jordan accepted his confession and absolved him of his sins if he did “penance” by making his plan work. [Daredevil (5th series) #17-20]
Organized crime in New York City continued to grow more dangerous. Wilson Fisk returned from the west coast, having beaten all outstanding charges against him. He presented himself to the public as a reformed man, a socialite fundraising for charity work. Matt didn’t believe this for a moment. He tried to warn off a reporter named Sarah Dewey from becoming Fisk’s white-washing 
biographer, but she didn’t listen and got too deep into his world. [Kingpin (2nd series) #1-5] Fisk secretly sponsored the former gangster Diamondback in making a play as the new Kingpin of New York. He made attacks on Matt Murdock, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Danny Rand to stake his claim before also rattling Black Cat and Hammerhead. This initiative by Diamondback pushed Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke and Jessica to join forces and declare themselves New York’s new Defenders. Matt enjoyed working with his old friends again, but it also highlighted the rift between them, now that his identity was secret once more. [Defenders (5th series) #1-6]
Matt finally had the pieces together to bring his proposal to Benjamin Hochberg. Except for the era of the Superhuman Registration Act, the Daredevils and Spider-Men of the city had always operated in a vague area alongside law enforcement. Vigilantism was technically illegal, but everyone accepted that regular police officers didn’t stand a chance against the schemes of Electro or Doctor Octopus. However, the average purse-snatcher tied to a flagpole typically walked on all charges if no complaining victim came forward with them. Anonymous do-gooders could not make official statements or testify in court over what they saw while patrolling the city streets.
Murdock had a plan to incorporate masked vigilantes and costumed crime-fighters under the 
protections of the Confidential Informant program. Defendants had the right to face their accusers, but law enforcement already employed an exception where CIs gave information and kept their identities a secret for their own protection. By expanding existing precedent to accommodate super-heroes, their masks could stay on and their testimony would be legal. The raid on Hong Kong allowed Matt to gather Black Cat’s files on the criminal underworld of New York and find the perfect trial case for his program. Hochberg had reservations, but he was intrigued by the possibilities and green lit Murdock’s plan.
Daredevil identified Ammo and his team of survivalists known as the Clip as a low-stakes test for his initiative. In order to avoid motions about brutality and intimidation, the witness in the test case couldn’t commit vigilante battery during the crime and arrest. There were complications, but Luke Cage and Echo stopped Simon “Slug” Slugansky of the Clip from setting off a bomb outside City Hall, and Daredevil witnessed the entire sequence of events. For the case against Slugansky, Murdock’s legal team called Daredevil to the stand on his behalf. To avoid the appearance of 
impropriety, Matt Murdock himself was not in the courtroom due to his long history of association with Daredevil and the super-hero community. The other attorneys of the D.A.’s office presented his argument for Daredevil’s testimony… and his response brief anticipating all the defense’s objections. Ammo and the rest of the Clip tried to interrupt the proceedings but, by the end, the judge allowed Daredevil’s testimony without compelling him to remove his mask, the victory the D.A.’s office was looking for. [Daredevil (5th series) #21-22]
Naturally, there was still an appeal of the ruling. Murdock won at the appellate level, which brought the case to the New York State Court of Appeals. It was attracting attention. Wilson Fisk saw the implications of allowing “the Slugansky rule” to embolden masked heroes and bring down organized crime. Consequently, he hired the meticulous lawyer known only as “Legal” to argue against Murdock at the state court. As a secondary measure, he also hired Tombstone to kill Murdock. Matt was discussing the merits of his strategy with Jennifer Walters when Tombstone tried to whack him, which went bad for Tombstone. However, Legal was successful in arguing before the Court of Appeals to reverse the lower courts’ verdicts against Matt Murdock and the Slugansky rule. [Daredevil (5th series) #23]
Privately, Matt Murdock deliberately threw his argument before the Court of Appeals. This allowed him to file a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. If he was successful here, then the Slugansky rule would be legal precedent for not only New York, but all of the United States. Matt 
used the opportunity to reconnect with Foggy Nelson, bringing their two legal minds together to make a case before the Supreme Court, like they always dreamed of back in law school. He also apologized for everything he put Foggy through, and they began mending their friendship. It was a hard-fought battle before the Supreme Court, but Nelson & Murdock composed a winning argument and the Slugansky rule became the law of the land, much to Wilson Fisk’s chagrin. [Daredevil (5th series) #24-25]
Significant consequences arose when Hydra seized power in America. Captain America had been replaced by a Hydra sleeper agent and assumed control of S.H.I.E.L.D. He sent an Army of Evil to Manhattan, prompting Daredevil and the Defenders to gather their allies in defense of the city. At the apex of the conflict, though, the Army of Evil teleported away and the super-charged villain Blackout cast a Darkforce dome over the entire island. New York City was trapped in impenetrable darkness for weeks, even months, and its heroes tried to keep the population safe from invading Darkforce demons and other threats. To Daredevil’s trepidation, Wilson Fisk stepped up as a hero to the people, organizing food and supplies and the means of transporting them around the darkened city. Daredevil fought the good fight, but the people of Manhattan would remember the Kingpin as a hero of the crisis as well. [Secret Empire crossover]
In Blindspot’s absence, Daredevil attended to his shrine and the notes left there by the people of Chinatown seeking his aid. One day, he discovered a note from Blindspot himself, asking for Daredevil’s help back home in Zhangjiajie, China. Matt expected a trap, but he was still surprised when he found a temple of the Hand and Blindspot working alongside them. Blindspot’s mother 
petitioned the Beast of the Hand to restore Sam’s sight, at the cost of her soul. In order to save his mother, Blindspot had to offer the Beast another soul in trade: Daredevil’s. Matt, like Tenfingers before him, was killed and resurrected by the Beast time and again to suffer his punishment for betraying the Hand. In the end, though, Blindspot couldn’t abandoned Daredevil and went back to save him. As a consequence, the Beast devoured Sam’s mother before his eyes. Matt and Sam returned to America, with Matt intent on arranging the legal paperwork for Sam to gain asylum and become a full citizen. Matt had been gone for too long, however – while he was fighting the Hand in China, Wilson Fisk was elected as the new mayor of New York City. [Daredevil (5th series) #26-28]
Even when the initial shock wore off, Matt realized much of what he had built and sacrificed for was coming undone. Ben Hochberg refused Matt’s request to open an investigation into Wilson Fisk’s campaign to find proof he stole the election. On top of that, the Mayor’s Office ordered the D.A.’s Office to begin an Anti-Vigilante task force to begin a “clampdown on non-government exercise of authority.” The Slugansky rule may let masked crime-fighters testify, but it did nothing to protect their right to act as vigilantes if the police were against them. Hochberg said the mayor 
specifically asked for Murdock to be assigned to the task force. While blowing off steam patrolling the streets, Daredevil was caught in a sting operation by the NYPD, arrested for battery and brought before Mayor Fisk. Kingpin’s gloating prompted Daredevil to act rashly, breaking his handcuffs and crashing through the window of the mayor’s office. From there, Fisk easily called out a dragnet and declared Daredevil to be public enemy #1. [Daredevil (1st series) #595-596]