Search Results

open access

Guantanamo Detention Center: Legislative Activity in the 111th Congress

Description: The detention of alleged enemy combatants at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, together with proposals to transfer some such individuals to the United States for prosecution or continued detention, has been a subject of considerable interest for Congress. Several authorization and appropriations measures enacted during the 111th Congress, and various pending bills, address the disposition and treatment of Guantanamo detainees. This report analyzes relevant provisions in enacted le… more
Date: June 17, 2010
Creator: Henning, Anna C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

International Parental Child Abductions

Description: International child custody disputes are likely to increase in frequency as the global society becomes more integrated and mobile. Since 1988, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction ("Hague Convention" or "Convention") has been the principal mechanism for enforcing the return of abducted children to the United States. This report will discuss the applicability of the Hague Convention and current U.S. laws, both civil and criminal, which seek to address the qu… more
Date: November 22, 2010
Creator: Smith, Alison M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Authority of State and Local Police to Enforce Federal Immigration Law

Description: This report discusses the authority of state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law through the investigation and arrest of persons believed to have violated such laws. It describes current provisions in federal law that permit state and local police to enforce immigration law directly, analyzes major cases concerning the ability of states and localities to assist in immigration enforcement, and briefly examines opinions on the issue by the Office of L… more
Date: September 17, 2010
Creator: Garcia, Michael John & Manuel, Kate M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Authority of State and Local Police to Enforce Federal Immigration Law

Description: This report discusses the authority of state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law through the investigation and arrest of persons believed to have violated such laws. It describes current provisions in federal law that permit state and local police to enforce immigration law directly, analyzes major cases concerning the ability of states and localities to assist in immigration enforcement, and briefly examines opinions on the issue by the Office of L… more
Date: September 17, 2010
Creator: Garcia, Michael John & Manuel, Kate M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS): Background, Legislation, and Funding

Description: This report discusses the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which was created by Title I of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322). The mission of the COPS program is to advance community policing in all jurisdictions across the United States. Several bills introduced in the 111th Congress would either modify the COPS program, reauthorize appropriations for the program, or both.
Date: January 5, 2010
Creator: James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Jurisprudence of Justice John Paul Stevens: Selected Opinions on the Jury's Role in Criminal Sentencing

Description: This report discusses Justice John Paul Stevens' opinions on the Jury's role in criminal sentencing. Justice Stevens has played a critical role in the Supreme Court's interpretation of a jury's role in criminal sentencing. In 2000, he wrote the majority opinion for the Court in Apprendi v. New Jersey, a landmark case in which the Court held that a judge typically may not increase a sentence beyond the range prescribed by statute unless the increase is based on facts determined by a jury "beyond… more
Date: June 7, 2010
Creator: Henning, Anna C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Deprivation of Honest Services as a Basis for Federal Mail and Wire Fraud Convictions

Description: The United States Supreme Court in Skilling v. United States construed the honest services branch of the federal mail and wire fraud statutes to reach no more than cases involving bribery or kickbacks. The mail and wire fraud statutes, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343, impose criminal penalties for the use of mail or interstate wire communications to deprive another of money or property through a "scheme or artifice to defraud." This report discusses wire and mail fraud and examines relevant court ca… more
Date: July 28, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

American Jihadist Terrorism: Combating a Complex Threat

Description: Between May 2009 and August 2010, arrests were made for 19 "homegrown," jihadist-inspired terrorist plots by American citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States. The apparent spike in such activity after May 2009 suggests that at least some Americans - even if a tiny minority - continue to be susceptible to ideologies supporting a violent form of jihad. This report describes homegrown violent jihadists and the plots and attacks that have occurred since 9/11. This report also pro… more
Date: September 20, 2010
Creator: Bjelopera, Jerome P. & Randol, Mark A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Comparison of Rights in Military Commission Trials and Trials in Federal Criminal Court

Description: This report provides a brief summary of legal issues raised by the choice of forum for trying accused terrorists and a chart comparing selected military commissions rules under the Military Commissions Act, as amended, to the corresponding rules that apply in federal court.
Date: January 26, 2010
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

American Jihadist Terrorism: Combating a Complex Threat

Description: This report describes homegrown violent jihadists and the plots and attacks that have occurred since 9/11. "Homegrown" and "domestic" are terms that describe terrorist activity or plots perpetrated within the United States or abroad by American citizens, legal permanent residents, or visitors radicalized largely within the United States. The report also discusses the radicalization process and the forces driving violent extremist activity. It analyzes post-9/11 domestic jihadist terrorism and d… more
Date: December 7, 2010
Creator: Bjelopera, Jerome P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

State Statutes Governing Hate Crimes

Description: Concerns about hate crimes have become increasingly prominent among policymakers at all levels of government in recent years. This report compiles state statutes pertaining to hate crimes, including in the context of federal legislation such as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (the latter of which was signed by President Obama on October 28, 1999).
Date: September 28, 2010
Creator: Smith, Alison M. & Foley, Cassandra L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress

Description: Trafficking in persons (TIP) for the purposes of exploitation is both an international and a domestic crime that involves violations of labor, public health, and human rights standards. This report focuses on human trafficking both internationally and within the United States. The report begins with an overview of human trafficking including a discussion of the definition of human trafficking, the scope of the problem globally, and an examination of the victims. It follows with an analysis of g… more
Date: February 18, 2010
Creator: Wyler, Liana Sun & Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress

Description: Trafficking in persons (TIP) for the purposes of exploitation is both an international and a domestic crime that involves violations of labor, public health, and human rights standards. This report focuses on human trafficking both internationally and within the United States. The report begins with an overview of human trafficking including a discussion of the definition of human trafficking, the scope of the problem globally, and an examination of the victims. It follows with an analysis of g… more
Date: May 20, 2010
Creator: Wyler, Liana Sun & Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress

Description: This report focuses on human trafficking both internationally and within the United States. The report begins with an overview of human trafficking including a discussion of the definition of human trafficking, the scope of the problem globally, and an examination of the victims. It follows with an analysis of global anti-trafficking efforts by the United States and the international community. The report then focuses on trafficking into and within the United States, examining relief for traffi… more
Date: December 23, 2010
Creator: Siskin, Alison & Wyler, Liana Sun
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities: A Summary and Issues for the 111th Congress

Description: This report summarizes several emergency management and homeland security programs, and identifies and analyzes potential issues for the 111th Congress. These issues include the purpose and number of assistance programs; the evaluation of the use of grant funding; the determination of eligible grant recipients; the programs' funding amounts; and the programs; funding distribution methodologies.
Date: April 30, 2010
Creator: Reese, Shawn
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Organized Crime in the United States: Trends and Issues for Congress

Description: This report provides a background on organized crime in the United States as well as the tools that Congress has afforded for the federal government to combat it. It outlines the trends in federal efforts to investigate and prosecute organized crime. The report then discusses the evolving nature of organized crime, including the domestic impact of organized crime, prominent organized crime groups, and their illegal activities affecting the United States. It concludes with a discussion of issues… more
Date: December 22, 2010
Creator: Finklea, Kristin M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Immigration-Related Detention: Current Legislative Issues

Description: This report discusses issues for Congress in regards to the potential reform of the nation's immigration system. The detention of noncitizens in the United States will likely be an issue. Under the law, there is broad authority to detain aliens while awaiting a determination of whether the noncitizen should be removed from the United States.
Date: January 27, 2010
Creator: Haddal, Chad C. & Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Southwest Border Violence: Issues in Identifying and Measuring Spillover Violence

Description: This report focuses on how policy makers would identify any spillover of drug trafficking-related violence into the United States. It provides an overview of Mexican drug trafficking organization structures, how they conduct business, and the relationship between the drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and their partnerships operating here in the United States; a discussion of the illicit drug trade between Mexico and the United States; and other related issues.
Date: February 16, 2010
Creator: Lake, Jennifer E.; Finklea, Kristin M.; Eddy, Mark; Franco, Celinda; Hadda, Chad C. l; Krouse, William J. et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Extraterritorial Application of American Criminal Law

Description: Crime is ordinarily proscribed, tried, and punished according to the laws of the place where it occurs. American criminal law applies beyond the geographical confines of the United States, however, under certain limited circumstances. A surprising number of federal criminal statutes have extraterritorial application, but prosecutions have been few. This may be because when extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction does exist, practical and legal complications, and sometimes diplomatic consideratio… more
Date: March 26, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Securing America's Borders: The Role of the Intelligence Community

Description: Maintaining the security of U.S. borders is a fundamental responsibility of the federal government. This report discusses the contribution of intelligence agencies to the border security efforts of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and other federal agencies that work in cooperation with state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. Much of the intelligence community's border security-related efforts are classified, however.
Date: December 7, 2010
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen