Congressional Research Service Reports - 1,109 Matching Results
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- Sentencing Reform: Comparison of Selected Proposals
- This report is a comparison of selected criminal sentencing reform bills as introduced: H.R. 3713, H.R. 2944, S. 502, and H.R. 920; and S. 2123 as passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee with a manager's amendment).
- Risk and Needs Assessment in the Criminal Justice System
- 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.
- The U.N. Convention Against Torture: Overview of U.S. Implementation Policy Concerning the Removal of Aliens
- This report discusses the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which requires signatory parties to take measures to end torture within their territorial jurisdictions.
- Is Violent Crime in the United States Increasing?
- Overall, homicide and violent crime rates have been trending downward for more than two decades, and both rates are at historic lows. An analysis comparing 2014 and 2015 homicide data from the nation's 60 most populous cities suggests that violent crime is not increasing. This report discusses several short-term factors that might help explain some of the reported upticks in violent crime across the country.
- In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001: Dismissals of Claims Against Saudi Defendants Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)
- 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.
- Sentence Reform Acts: S.2123 and H.R. 3713
- This report discusses the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, S. 2123, and the Sentencing Reform Act of 2015, H.R. 3713, use virtually identical language to reduce the impact of the mandatory minimum sentences which federal courts must now impose for certain drug trafficking and firearms offenses.
- Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA): Background and Funding
- This report provides an overview of the federal response to domestic violence--defined broadly to include acts of physical and nonphysical violence against spouses and other intimate partners--through the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA).
- Tying Up Loose Ends... Supreme Court To Evaluate Federal Firearm Provision Again
- This legal sidebar discusses certiorari to hear Voisine v. United States, a decision examining the federal provision that makes it unlawful for an individual to possess a firearm or ammunition if he or she has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (MCDV).
- Federal Crime Control: Background, Legislation, and Issues
- This report discusses the prevention and control of domestic crime, which has traditionally been a responsibility of state and local governments, with the federal government playing more of a supportive role.
- U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT): Overview and Application to Interrogation Techniques
- This report discusses the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) requires signatory parties to take measures to end torture within their territorial jurisdiction and to criminalize all acts of torture.
- Backlog of Sexual Assault Evidence: In Brief
- 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.
- Special Prosecutors: Investigations and Prosecutions of Police Use of Deadly Force
- This legal sidebar discusses the suggestion to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate cases of alleged law enforcement criminality.
- North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?
- This report discusses the issue of North Korea's inclusion on the U.S. list of terrorism-supporting countries, which has been a major issue in U.S.-North Korean diplomacy since 2000, particularly in connection with negotiations over North Korea's nuclear program.
- Is This the First Step in Undoing Mass Incarceration? 6,000 Federal Drug Offenders Set to be Released
- 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.
- Armed Career Criminal Act (18 U.S.C. 924(e)): An Overview
- This report discusses the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e). The law requires a minimum 15-year term of imprisonment for recidivists convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g), who have three prior state or federal convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses.
- U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation Following "El Chapo" Guzmán's Escape
- This report discusses the escape of JoaquÃn "El Chapo" Guzmán on July 11, 2015, from a maximum security federal prison near Mexico City.
- Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean
- This report describes the nature and scope of the problem of human trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean, including U.S. efforts to deal with trafficking in persons in the region, as well as the successes and failures of some recent country and regional antitrafficking efforts. The report concludes by raising issues that may be helpful for the 113th Congress to consider as it continues to address human trafficking as part of its authorization, appropriations, and oversight activities.
- Department of Justice (DOJ) Appropriations for FY2008 and FY2009
- This report provides a discussion of funding for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, including background information, a breakdown of funding from FY2008 regular and supplemental funding, and budget requests for FY2009.
- Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities: A Summary and Issues for the 111th Congress
- 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.
- Risk and Needs Assessment in the Criminal Justice System
- 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 critiques. 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.
- Mass Murder with Firearms: Incidents and Victims, 1999-2013
- This report analyzes mass shootings for a 15-year period (1999-2013). CRS analysis of the FBI SHR dataset and other research indicates that offenders committed at least 317 mass shootings, murdered 1,554 victims, and nonfatally wounded another 441 victims entirely with firearms during that 15-year period. The prevalence of mass shooting incidents and victim counts fluctuated sporadically from year to year.
- Enemy Combatant Detainees: Habeas Corpus Challenges in Federal Court
- This report provides an overview of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) procedures. It summarizes relevant court cases and the effect of the Detainee Treatment Act, as well as pending legislation. The report also provides an analysis of relevant constitutional issues that may have some bearing on Congress's options with respect to detainees held at Guantanamo and elsewhere.
- Analysis of Selected Legislative Proposals Addressing Guantanamo Detainees
- This report discusses the approaches that selected legislative proposals take regarding Guantanamo detainees.
- Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities: A Summary and Issues for the 111th Congress
- 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.
- Risk and Needs Assessment in the Criminal Justice System
- 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.
- France: Efforts to Counter Islamist Terrorism and Radicalization
- This report briefly discusses heightened concern regarding the threat of Islamist terrorism in France and Europe.
- Sex Trafficking: An Overview of Federal Criminal Law
- This report discusses federal laws on sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is a state crime. Federal law, however, makes it a federal crime to conduct the activities of a sex trafficking enterprise in a way that affects interstate or foreign commerce or that involves travel in interstate or foreign commerce.
- Enforcing Immigration Law: The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement
- This report examines some of the policy and legal issues that may accompany an increased role of state and local law officials in the enforcement of immigration law.
- South Carolina Church Shooting and Hate Crime in the United States
- This report provides statistics on Hate Crimes in the United States, in the wake of the South Carolina Church Shooting on June 18, 2015.
- Charleston, SC, Mass Shooter Might Have Been Denied a Handgun If Not for Possible Recordkeeping Oversights
- This report briefly discusses the announcement by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey that the alleged assailant in the Charleston, SC, mass murder/shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church might have been prevented from acquiring a handgun if not for possible recordkeeping oversights on the part of the FBI and Columbia, SC, city police and county sheriff's departments.
- Supreme Court Appellate Jurisdiction Over Military Court Cases
- This report surveys military courts' jurisdiction, the structure of appellate review for military cases, interactions between military and civilian courts, and legislative proposals.
- Sifting Domestic Terrorism from Other Illegal Activity
- This report briefly discusses key differences between domestic terrorism and ordinary criminal activity. Unlike ordinary criminals--who are often driven by self-centered motives such as profit and tend to opportunistically seek easy prey--domestic terrorists are driven by a cause or ideology.
- Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS): Background, Legislation, and Funding
- 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.
- Department of Homeland Security Assistance to States and Localities: A Summary and Issues for the 111th Congress
- 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.
- Burma and Transnational Crime
- This report analyzes the primary actors driving transnational crime in Burma, the forms of transnational crime occurring, and current U.S. policy in combating these crimes.
- Analysis of Selected Legislative Proposals Addressing Guantanamo Detainees
- This report discusses the approaches that selected legislative proposals take regarding Guantanamo detainees.
- Interrogation of Detainees: Requirements of the Detainee Treatment Act
- This report discusses provisions of the Detainee Treatment Act concerning standards for the interrogation and treatment of detainees.
- Gun Trafficking and the Southwest Border
- This report includes legal analyses of three ATF-investigated, Southwest border gun trafficking cases to illustrate the federal statutes that are typically violated as part of wider gun trafficking schemes. The report also examines anti-gun trafficking proposals introduced in the 110th Congress.
- Deprivation of Honest Services as a Basis for Federal Mail and Wire Fraud Convictions
- This report discusses wire and mail fraud and examines relevant court cases.
- Interrogation of Detainees: Requirements of the Detainee Treatment Act
- This report discusses provisions of the Detainee Treatment Act concerning standards for the interrogation and treatment of detainees.
- Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations
- This report provides an overview of Egyptian politics and current issues in U.S.-Egyptian relations. It briefly provides a political history of modern Egypt, an overview of its political institutions, and a discussion of the prospects for democratization in Egypt. U.S.-Egyptian relations are complex and multi-faceted, and this report addresses the following current topics: the Arab-Israeli peace process, Iraq, terrorism, democratization and reform, human rights, trade, and military cooperation.
- Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean
- This report discusses the issue of trafficking in persons (TIP) in Latin America, giving background information and examining possible policy solutions.
- Agricultural Disaster Assistance
- This report briefly discusses the federal grand jury, which exists to investigate crimes against the United States and to secure the constitutional right of grand jury indictment.
- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF): Budget and Operations
- This report provides an overview of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) budget and operations. The ATF is the lead federal law enforcement agency charged with administering and enforcing federal laws related to the manufacture, importation, and distribution of firearms and explosives.
- Guantanamo Detention Center: Legislative Activity in the 111th Congress
- This report analyzes the relevant provisions of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009, and selected legislative proposals that have been introduced in the 111th Congress.
- Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean
- This report describes the nature and scope of the problem of trafficking in persons in Latin America and the Caribbean. It then describes U.S. efforts to deal with trafficking in persons in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as discusses the successes and failures of some recent country and regional anti-trafficking efforts.
- The Federal Grand Jury
- This report discusses the federal grand jury, which exists to investigate crimes against the United States and to secure the constitutional right of grand jury indictment.
- Amber Alert Program Technology
- This report discusses Amber Alerts (also referred to as AMBER plans) which use technology to disseminate information about child abductions in a timely manner. Technologies used for alerts include the Emergency Alert System (EAS), highway messages boards, telephone alert systems, the Internet, text messaging, and email.
- Gun Trafficking and the Southwest Border
- This report includes legal analyses of three ATF-investigated, Southwest border gun trafficking cases to illustrate the federal statutes that are typically violated as part of wider gun trafficking schemes. The report also examines anti-gun trafficking proposals introduced in the 110th Congress.
- Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS): Current Legislative Issues
- This report provides an overview of issues Congress may consider when taking up legislation to reauthorize the Community Oriented Policing Services program.