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In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001: Dismissals of Claims Against Saudi Defendants Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)

Description: This report summarizes the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and jurisdiction in cases against foreign defendants and analyzes the recent court of appeals decision. This report examines the legal bases for those dismissals.
Date: October 29, 2008
Creator: Henning, Anna C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Is This the First Step in Undoing Mass Incarceration? 6,000 Federal Drug Offenders Set to be Released

Description: In early November, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is scheduled to release approximately 6,000 federal inmates convicted of drug trafficking offenses. This report briefly examines the background of this release and its potential effects.
Date: October 22, 2015
Creator: James, Nathan & Yeh, Brian T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Do Courts Have Inherent Authority to Release Secret Grand Jury Materials?

Description: This report discusses the issue of releasing secret grand jury material. Although a long-established principle that has been deemed essential to the grand jury's functioning and independence is that matters occurring before it are to be kept secret, the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) establishes exceptions.
Date: October 5, 2018
Creator: Foster, Michael A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Polygraph Use by the Department of Energy: Issues for Congress

Description: This report examines how the Department of Energy's (DOE) polygraph testing program has evolved and reviews certain scientific findings with regard to the polygraph's scientific validity. Several issues include whether: DOE's new screening program is focused on an appropriate number of individuals occupying only the most sensitive positions; the program should be expanded in order to adequately safeguard certain classified information; further research into the polygraph's scientific validity i… more
Date: October 23, 2008
Creator: Cumming, Alfred
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Missing Adults: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress

Description: The first section of this report discusses demographics and record keeping of missing adults and unidentified remains, and some of the factors that may contribute to the disappearance of adults. This section also discusses federally funded databases that are used to track data on missing adults and unidentified individuals. The second section of the report describes the federal programs and initiatives to assist in locating missing adults, including funding data for FY2002 through FY2008, where… more
Date: October 15, 2008
Creator: Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity

Description: Congress has the authority to determine classes of aliens who may be admitted into the United States and the grounds for which they may be removed. Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, certain conduct may either disqualify an alien from entering the United States ("inadmissibility") or provide grounds for his or her removal/deportation. Prominently included among this conduct is criminal activity. This report explores this issue in-depth, especially the difference … more
Date: October 23, 2006
Creator: Garcia, Michael John & Eig, Larry M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Grand Juries: The Law in a Nutshell

Description: This report discusses the history and current role of the federal grand jury in the American criminal justice system. The federal grand jury exists to investigate crimes against the United States and to secure the constitutional right of grand jury indictment. Its responsibilities require broad powers. As an arm of the United States District Court which summons it, upon whose process it relies, and which will receive any indictments it returns, the grand jury's subject matter and geographical j… more
Date: October 3, 2005
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity

Description: This report discusses the potential immigration consequences of criminal activity. “Criminal activity” generally refers to conduct for which an alien has been found or plead guilty before a court of law, though in limited circumstances consequences may attach to the commission of a crime or admission of acts constituting the essential elements of a crime. Consequences may flow from violations of either federal, state or, in many circumstances, foreign criminal law. Some federal crimes are set o… more
Date: October 23, 2006
Creator: Garcia, Michael John & Eig, Larry M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Hate Crime Legislation

Description: This report provides an overview of the hate crime debate, with background on current law and hate crime statistics, and a legislative history of hate crime prevention bills in recent Congresses. This report does not analyze the constitutional or other legal issues that often arise as part of the hate crime debate.
Date: October 16, 2009
Creator: Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriations for the Department of Justice

Description: This report discusses proposed appropriations for the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the 2018 fiscal year divided into each department of the DOJ. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31) appropriated $28.962 billion for DOJ while President Trump's proposed 2018 budget requests $28.205 billion for DOJ which amounts to 2.6% less than the FY2017-enacted appropriation.
Date: October 12, 2017
Creator: James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Aiding, Abetting, and the Like: An Abbreviated Overview of 18 U.S.C. 2

Description: This report discuses the issues that virtually every federal criminal statute has a hidden feature; helpers and hands-on offenders face the same punishment. This results from 18 U.S.C. 2, which visits the same consequences on anyone who orders or assists in the commission of a federal crime.
Date: October 24, 2014
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Backlog of Sexual Assault Evidence: In Brief

Description: This report provides background on the sexual assault kit (SAKs, also referred to as "rape kits") backlog and information on federal efforts to reduce it. The backlog of SAKs has raised concerns over justice for assault victims and that additional victimizations could have been prevented had the evidence from any given kit been tested and the perpetrator apprehended in a timely manner.
Date: October 19, 2015
Creator: Sacco, Lisa N. & James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Aiding, Abetting, and the Like: An Overview of 18 U.S.C. 2

Description: This report discuses the issues that virtually every federal criminal statute has a hidden feature; helpers and hands-on offenders face the same punishment. This results from 18 U.S.C. 2, which visits the same consequences on anyone who orders or assists in the commission of a federal crime.
Date: October 24, 2014
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

DNA Testing for Law Enforcement: Legislative Issues for Congress

Description: DNA evidence is a powerful forensic tool in criminal cases. Its use and capabilities have increased substantially since it was first introduced in the late 1980s. That growth has led to the emergence of the following issues that were considered by the 106th Congress in legislative initiatives: eliminating the nationwide backlog of unanalyzed DNA samples, expanding the kinds of offenders who are profiled, providing opportunities for post-conviction testing of DNA evidence, and continuing develop… more
Date: October 14, 2004
Creator: Hill, Cindy
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime

Description: This report provides background and funding information for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) programs and the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). It describes the process through which CVF funds are allocated and explains how the CVF impacts the annual budget for DOJ. It then provides an analysis of selected issues that Congress may consider regarding the CVF and the federal budget.
Date: October 27, 2015
Creator: Sacco, Lisa N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Risk and Needs Assessment in the Criminal Justice System

Description: This report provides information on the use of risk and needs assessment in the criminal justice system. It starts with an overview of risk and needs assessment and a discussion of some of the critiques of it. The report concludes with a discussion of the issues policymakers might consider if they debate legislation to expand the use of risk and needs assessment in the federal prison system.
Date: October 13, 2015
Creator: James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Sexual Violence at Institutions of Higher Education

Description: Currently, there are two federal laws that address sexual violence on college campuses: the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act, P.L. 101-542) and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX, P.L. 92-318). Following a discussion exploring the prevalence of sexual violence at IHEs, this report provides a detailed policy and legal analysis of these two statutes, as well as a brief description of a third statute related to educati… more
Date: October 23, 2014
Creator: McCallion, Gail & Feder, Jody
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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