Congressional Research Service Reports - 178 Matching Results

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Federal Tort Reform Legislation: Constitutionality and Summaries of Selected Statutes

Description: This report considers the constitutionality of federal tort reform legislation, such as the products liability and medical malpractice reform proposals that have been introduced for the last several Congresses. Tort law at present is almost exclusively state law rather than federal law, although, as noted in the appendix to this report, Congress has enacted a number of tort reform statutes.
Date: July 7, 2008
Creator: Cohen, Henry & Burrows, Vanessa K.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
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. Although this report focuses primarily on the Court's methodology in construing statutory text, the Court's approach to reliance on legislative history are also briefly described.
Date: August 31, 2008
Creator: Kim, Yule
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Gun Control Laws: The Second Amendment and Other Constitutional Issues

Description: This report examines the historical, legal, and constitutional arguments for and against an individual right to bear firearms under the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Those who favor federal gun control laws tend to assert that the Second Amendment has been correctly interpreted by the courts to confer only a collective right, which may be exercised through state militias. Those who oppose gun control laws tend to assert that the Second Amendment should be interpreted to grant an individ… more
Date: February 1, 1995
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Farm Promotion ("Check-off") Programs

Description: The U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 affirmed the constitutionality of the so-called beef check-off program, one of the 18 generic promotion programs for agricultural products that are now active nationally. Supporters view check-offs as economically beneficial self-help activities that need minimal government involvement or taxpayer funding. Producers, handlers, and/or importers are required to pay an assessment, usually deducted from revenue at time of sale - thus the name check-off. However, some … more
Date: October 20, 2008
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Brady Handgun Control Act: Constitutional Issues

Description: The Brady Handgun Control Act established a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, during which local law enforcement can make reasonable efforts to conduct background checks in available records and block and sales to convicted felons and other disqualified persons. This report reviews the background of federal gun control legislation, analyzes the conflict in the courts over the constitutionality under the Tenth Amendment of the duties placed on local law enforcement, and considers th… more
Date: October 25, 1995
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Assault Weapons Ban: Review of Federal Laws Controlling Possessions of Certain Firearms

Description: This report reviews the 1994 assault weapons ban, which is effective for ten years on 19 types of semiautomatic assault weapons. The Act builds upon a 60-year history of federal regulation of firearms. The report also summarizes the pre-1994 federal gun control laws, analyzes the major cases relating to constitutional and statutory challenges to these laws, and reviews judicial and legislative developments since enactment of the ban.
Date: December 1, 1995
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Legislative Prayer and School Prayer: The Constitutional Difference

Description: The Supreme Court's decisions holding government-sponsored prayer in the public schools to violate the First Amendment's establishment clause but prayer in legislative assemblies to be constitutional are sometimes lifted up as contradictory. This report summarizes the relevant decisions and identifies the distinctions the Court has drawn between the two situations.
Date: October 26, 1994
Creator: Ackerman, David M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Armed Career Criminal Act (18 U.S.C. 924(e)): An Overview

Description: This report briefly explores the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), which requires imposition of a minimum 15-year term of imprisonment for recidivists convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). Section 924(e) applies only to those defendants who have three prior state or federal convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses. The report includes descriptions of constitutional challenges to the application of section 924(e), which have been… more
Date: October 13, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
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 Amendments

Description: Many Members of Congress see continued tension between "free speech" decisions of the Supreme Court, which protect flag desecration as expressive conduct under the First Amendment, and the symbolic importance of the United States flag. This report is divided into two parts. The first gives a brief history of the flag protection issue, from the enactment of the Flag Protection Act in 1968 through current consideration of a constitutional amendment. The second part briefly summarizes the two deci… more
Date: January 7, 2009
Creator: Luckey, John R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment

Description: This report provides an overview of the major exceptions to the First Amendment - of the ways that the Supreme Court has interpreted the guarantee of freedom of speech and press to provide no protection or only limited protection for some types of speech. For example, the Court has decided that the First Amendment provides no protection to obscenity, child pornography, or speech that constitutes "advocacy of the use of force or of law violation ... where such advocacy is directed to inciting or… more
Date: October 16, 2009
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Origination Clause of the U.S. Constitution: Interpretation and Enforcement

Description: Article I, Section 7, clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution is known as the Origination Clause because it provides that "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." The meaning and application of this clause has evolved through practice and precedent since the Constitution was drafted. The Constitution does not provide specific guidelines as to what constitutes a "bill for raising revenue." This report analyzes congressional and court precedents regarding that co… more
Date: March 15, 2011
Creator: Saturno, James V.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Flag Protection: A Brief History and Summary of Supreme Court Decisions and Proposed Constitutional Amendments

Description: This report is divided into two parts. The first gives a brief history of the flag protection issue, from the enactment of the Flag Protection Act in 1968 through current consideration of a constitutional amendment. The second part briefly summarizes the two decisions of the United States Supreme Court, Texas v. Johnson and United States v. Eichman, that struck down the state and federal flag protection statutes as applied in the context punishing expressive conduct.
Date: January 20, 2011
Creator: Luckey, John R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Presidential Signing Statements: Constitutional and Institutional Implications

Description: Presidential signing statements are official pronouncements issued by the President contemporaneously to the signing of a bill into law that, in addition to commenting on the law generally, have been used to forward the President's interpretation of the statutory language; to assert constitutional objections to the provisions contained therein; and, concordantly, to announce that the provisions of the law will be administered in a manner that comports with the administration's conception of the… more
Date: January 4, 2012
Creator: Garvey, Todd
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues for Congress

Description: This report looks at how Article V of the Constitution allows Congress to propose amendments, specifically the process of organizing an Article V Convention, a method which has never been used and which is only breifly outlined in the Constitution.
Date: July 9, 2012
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment: Background and Congressional Options

Description: One of the most persistent political issues facing Congress in recent decades is whether to require that the budget of the United States be in balance. Although a balanced federal budget has long been held as a political ideal, the accumulation of large deficits in recent years has heightened concern that some action to require a balance between revenues and expenditures may be necessary. This report provides an overview of the issues and options that have been raised during prior consideration… more
Date: July 20, 2011
Creator: Saturno, James V. & Lynch, Megan Suzanne
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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A Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment: Background and Congressional Options

Description: One of the most persistent political issues facing Congress in recent decades is whether to require that the budget of the United States be in balance. Although a balanced federal budget has long been held as a political ideal, the accumulation of large deficits in recent years has heightened concern that some action to require a balance between revenues and expenditures may be necessary. This report provides an overview of the issues and options that have been raised during prior consideration… more
Date: July 8, 2011
Creator: Saturno, James V. & Lynch, Megan Suzanne
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Legal Standing Under the First Amendment's Establishment Clause

Description: This report analyzes the constitutional issues associated with standing (a restraint on the power of federal courts to render decisions), specifically related to cases arising under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment regarding religion. It provides a background on the doctrine of standing, including the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of various types of standing: standing to sue as a citizen, as a taxpayer, and on behalf of another party. It also examines the current standing … more
Date: April 5, 2011
Creator: Brougher, Cynthia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Military Personnel and Freedom of Religion: Selected Legal Issues

Description: This report provides an overview of the requirements of the First Amendment related to military personnel's religious exercise. It analyzes current constitutional and statutory requirements regarding religious exercise, and provides a framework for how Congress and the courts might consider future issues that arise related to service members' religious exercise. Specifically, the report examines the limitations placed on service members in uniform in the exercise of their religious beliefs. It … more
Date: February 1, 2011
Creator: Mason, R. Chuck & Brougher, Cynthia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federalism, State Sovereignty, and the Constitution: Basis and Limits of Congressional Power

Description: This report discusses state and federal legislative power generally and focuses on a number of these "federalism" cases. The report discusses state and federal legislative power generally, and focuses on a number of these "federalism" cases.1 Issues addressed include congressional power under the Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment; limits on congressional powers, such as the Tenth Amendment; state sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment; and grant condition imposed under the S… more
Date: September 23, 2013
Creator: Thomas, Kenneth R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues for Congress

Description: This report looks at how Article V of the Constitution allows Congress to propose amendments -- specifically the process of organizing an Article V Convention, a method that has never been used and which is only briefly outlined in the Constitution.
Date: May 7, 2014
Creator: Neale, Thomas H.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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