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A Tax Limitation Constitutional Amendment: Issues and Options Concerning a Super-Majority Requirement

Description: Proposals to limit the federal government’s authority to raise taxes have been made several times in recent years. Most frequently, these proposals call for limits on Congress’s ability to pass revenue measures. Typically, limitation proposals would allow increases in tax revenues only under one of two circumstances. First, tax revenues could increase under existing tax laws as a result of economic upturns. Alternatively, they could increase because of a new law, but only if it were passed by a… more
Date: July 15, 2003
Creator: Saturno, James V.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money

Description: "Soft money" has become one of the major issues in the area of campaign financing in federal elections. The controversy surrounding this issue is due to the perception that soft money may be the largest loophole in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Soft money is broadly defined as funds that are raised and spent according to applicable state laws; that would be impermissible, under the FECA, to spend directly in federal elections and that may have an indirect influence on federal electi… more
Date: August 10, 2000
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Flag Protection: A Brief History and Summary of Recent Supreme Court Decisions and Proposed Constitutional Amendment

Description: The first part of the report gives a brief history of the flag protection issue, from the enactment of the flag protection act in 1968 through consideration of a constitutional amendment. The second part briefly summarizes the two decisions of the United States Supreme court.
Date: May 19, 2005
Creator: Luckey, John R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The European Union's "Constitution"

Description: In June 2004, the European Union (EU) concluded work on a constitutional treaty that contains changes to the EU’s governing institutions and decision-making processes. This new “constitution” grew out of the 2002-2003 Convention on the Future of Europe and previous EU efforts to institute internal reforms ahead of the Union’s expansion from 15 members to 25 in May 2004. The “constitution” aims to enable a larger EU to operate effectively and prevent gridlock, but it must still be ratified by al… more
Date: May 2, 2005
Creator: Archick, Kristin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The European Union's "Constitution"

Description: In June 2004, the European Union (EU) concluded work on a constitutional treaty that contains changes to the EU’s governing institutions and decision-making processes. This new “constitution” grew out of the 2002-2003 Convention on the Future of Europe and previous EU efforts to institute internal reforms ahead of the Union’s expansion from 15 members to 25 in May 2004. The “constitution” aims to enable a larger EU to operate effectively and prevent gridlock, but it must still be ratified by al… more
Date: March 7, 2005
Creator: Archick, Kristin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The European Union's Constitution

Description: In June 2004, the European Union (EU) concluded work on a constitutional treaty that contains changes to the EU’s governing institutions and decision-making processes. This new “constitution” grew out of the 2002-2003 Convention on the Future of Europe and previous EU efforts to institute internal reforms ahead of the Union’s expansion from 15 members to 25 in May 2004. The “constitution” aims to enable a larger EU to operate effectively and prevent gridlock, but it must still be ratified by al… more
Date: July 11, 2005
Creator: Archick, Kristin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The European Union's "Constitution"

Description: In June 2004, the European Union (EU) concluded work on a constitutional treaty that contains changes to the EU’s governing institutions and decision-making processes. This new “constitution” grew out of the 2002-2003 Convention on the Future of Europe and previous EU efforts to institute internal reforms ahead of the Union’s expansion from 15 members to 25 in May 2004. The “constitution” aims to enable a larger EU to operate effectively and prevent gridlock, but it must still be ratified by al… more
Date: June 10, 2005
Creator: Archick, Kristin
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Excited Utterances, "Testimonial" Statements, and the Confrontation Clause

Description: The United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument this term in appeals from two state supreme court cases, Hammon v. Indiana and Davis v. Washington, concerning the admissibility of “excited utterance” statements made by non-testifying witnesses at criminal trials. In the landmark Crawford v. Washington case in 2004, the Court held that the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause forbids hearsay “testimonial” evidence from being introduced against the accused unless the witness is unavaila… more
Date: December 14, 2005
Creator: Yeh, Brian T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Charitable Choice: Legal and Constitutional Issues

Description: This report provides analysis of a number of factual, civil rights, and constitutional questions that have been raised regarding charitable choice in general. The analysis is generally focused on those provisions enacted as part of the 1996 welfare reform law. More recent charitable choice rules may give rise to the same or similar concerns. Primarily, this report focuses on civil rights concerns that have arisen in the context of charitable choice and First Amendment issues, as well as recent … more
Date: January 27, 2006
Creator: Welborn, Angie A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Legal Analysis of President Reagan's Proposed Constitutional Amendment on School Prayer

Description: Congressional Research Service (CRS) report for Congress entailing a legal analysis of President Reagan's proposed constitutional amendment on school prayers. Topics include, interpretation of the first amendment, prayer activities in schools, supreme court decisions etc..
Date: June 2, 1982
Creator: Ackerman, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Eighteen Year Old Vote: The Twenty-sixth Amendment and Subsequent Voting Rates of Newly Enfranchised Age Groups

Description: This report traces the progress of proposals to expand the right to vote to citizens between the ages of 18 and 21, culminating in the ratification of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1971. It also reviews the voting rates of the newly enfranchised age group and compares them to voting rates of other age groups.
Date: May 20, 1983
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Balanced Budget and Spending Limitations: Proposed Constitutional Amendments in the 97th Congress

Description: Expenditures and revenue limitation proposals link Federal spending and taxation to some measure of economic performance, such as the rate of economic growth or percentage levels of GNP or national income. The report presents this issue brief reviews, the various approaches to balance the budget and to impose spending limitations offered as constitutional amendments’ in the 97 congress.
Date: April 3, 1981
Creator: Schick, Allen & Strickland, Daniel P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Statutory Interpretation: General Principles and Recent Trends

Description: The Supreme Court has expressed an interest "that Congress be able to legislate against a background of clear interpretive rules, so that it may know the effect of the language it adopts." This report identifies and describes some of the more important rules and conventions of interpretation that the Court applies. Because the Court has recently placed renewed emphasis on statutory text and somewhat reduced emphasis on legislative history and other interpretive sources "extrinsic" to the text, … more
Date: August 3, 2001
Creator: Costello, George
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Afghanistan: Elections, Constitution, and Government

Description: In 2004 and 2005, Afghanistan adopted a permanent constitution and elected a president and a parliament. The parliament is emerging as a significant force in Afghan politics, as shown in debates over a new cabinet and the 2006 budget. See CRS Report RL30588, Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, by Kenneth Katzman.
Date: May 25, 2006
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Afghanistan: Elections, Constitution, and Government

Description: In 2004 and 2005, Afghanistan adopted a permanent constitution and elected a president and a parliament. The parliament is emerging as a significant force in Afghan politics, as shown in debate over a new cabinet proposed in March 2006. However, insurgent violence continues to threaten Afghan stability. See CRS Report RL30588, Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, by Kenneth Katzman.
Date: May 1, 2006
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Constitutional Conventions: Political and Legal Questions

Description: This report discusses the applications that have been passed by 32 of the necessary 34 State legislatures to convene a convention to propose an amendment prohibiting abortion. Because this process for amending the Constitution has never been used, several unresolved legal and policy questions arise governing the convening and the authority of such a convention.
Date: July 8, 1985
Creator: Huckabee, David C. & McCoy, Meredith
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Constitutionality of Proposals to Prohibit the Sale or Rental to Minors of Video Games with Violent or Sexual Content or "Strong Language"

Description: It has been proposed that Congress prohibit the sale or rental to minors of video games that are rated “M” (mature) or “AO” (adults-only) by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. This board is a non-governmental entity established by the Interactive Digital Software Association, and its ratings currently have no legal effect.
Date: January 18, 2006
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Constitutionality of Requiring Sexually Explicit Material on the Internet to be Under a Separate Domain Name

Description: It is unclear whether making a “.xxx” domain mandatory would violate the First Amendment. Some propose making use of a “.xxx” domain voluntary, but others propose that Congress make it mandatory. The latter proposal raises the question whether a mandatory separate domain would violate the First Amendment, and this report focuses on that question.
Date: January 3, 2006
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Farm Product "Check-Off" Programs: A Constitutional Analysis

Description: This report begins with a brief introduction to check-off programs and then describes many of the First Amendment principles that have been discussed in checkoff cases. Next is an analysis of the first two challenges that reached the Supreme Court, as well as a brief discussion of subsequent lower court decisions. This report concludes with a discussion of Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Association and its possible implications for check-off programs.
Date: June 21, 2005
Creator: Vina, Stephen R
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: A Glimpse of the Legal Background and Recent Amendments

Description: This report discusses the USA PATRIOT Act, which expanded the authority of four national security letter (NSL) statutes and created a fifth, and the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act that amended the previous legislation. This is an abridged version of CRS Report RL33320, "National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: Legal Background and Recent Amendments".
Date: March 21, 2006
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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