Congressional Research Service Reports - 1,109 Matching Results

Search Results

Parental Kidnapping: No Description Available.
Crime Control: Administration and Congressional Initiatives: The Reagan Administration announced its major crime Control proposals in 1981, shortly after the final report from the Attorney General's Task Force on Violent Crimes, and reiterated support for significant changes in Crime control legislation in 1983. Congressional initiatives and modifications of those proposals continue interest and controversy in crime control matters in the 98th Congress.
Social Security Benefits for Prisoners: On Mar. 24, 1983, the Congress adopted, as part of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 (P.L. 98-21), a measure to preclude virtually all incarcerated felons from receiving social security benefits of any kind, including retirement and survivor benefits. This action expanded previous legislation. In October 1980, legislation had been enacted (P.L. 96-473) that denied only social security disability benefits and student benefits to prisoners convicted of a felony.
Coordination of Federal Efforts to Control Illicit Drug Traffic: This report discusses how best to coordinate the Federal government's multi-agency efforts to curb illicit traffic in dangerous drugs has once again become an issue of major interest to the Congress. Critics of the Reagan Administration's anti-drug program contend that it lacks an overall strategy and that it suffers from the absence of a central mechanism for the formulation of general policy as well as for the broad direction of operations
Control of Illicit Traffic in Dangerous Drugs: Suppression of illicit traffic is only one aspect of the general Federal Government effort to prevent the abuse of narcotics and other dangerous drug;, but in political significance it is undoubtedly paramount. Various approaches to the problem have been suggested and tried since the first explicitly anti-opium law was enacted in 1887.
Compensation for Crime Victims: This report discusses the growing interest in recent years in providing compensation for the innocent victims of violent crime through programs financed by the Federal and/or State Governments. At issue have been the general propriety, desirability, and feasibility, as well as the cost, of Federal support of such programs.
Homeless in America: This report discusses questions dealing with the number of homeless Americans as well as trends in society's attitudes toward such people. The incidence of mental illness and the appropriateness, or lack thereof, of deinstitutionalization for such patients is another aspect of the problem which is covered in this packet. A CRS report gives an overview of the situation and of the Federal response.
Alleged Fraud, Waste and, and Abuse: General Dynamics Corp.: Numerous Federal agencies -- including the Justice Department and Congressional committees -- are investigating allegations of fraud at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation, the nation's third largest defense contractor. This issue brief provides a chronological summary, based on newspaper and magazine accounts, of each of these investigations.
Polygraph Testing of Employees In Private Industry: No Description Available.
Obscenity: A Legal Primer: This report provides an overview of the present law of obscenity and pornography, with emphasis on the following topics: (1) the legal definition of obscenity; (2) the constitutionality of restrictive zoning laws; (3) federal authority to legislate in this area; (4) child pornography; (5) regulation of the broadcast media in this context; (6) obscenity and cable television; (7) obscene prerecorded messages; (8) seizure of obscene materials; and .(9) pornography as a form of sex discrimination.
Arms Shipments to Iran: This report provides background and examines key questions in regards to the shipments of arms to Iran and the subsequent diversion of funds to Nicaraguan guerrillas by the Reagan Administration.
Terrorism: U.S. Policy Options: No Description Available.
Polygraph Testing: Employee and Employer Rights: No Description Available.
Federal Gun Control Laws: The Second Amendment and Other Constitutional Issues: 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 individual right to bear arms for lawful purposes, subject to appropriately minimal restrictions.
The Brady Handgun Control Act: Constitutional Issues: 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 the implications of the decisions for Brady Act enforcement.
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996: A Summary: The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is the product of legislative efforts stretching back well over a decade and stimulated to passage in part by the tragedies in Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center. This report summarizes the six titles of the Act, its sources, and related legislation.
Drug Control: International Policy and Options: Over the past decade, worldwide production of illicit drugs has risen dramatically: opium and marijuana production has roughly doubled and coca production tripled. Street prices of cocaine and heroin have fallen significantly in the past 20 years, reflecting increased availability. Despite apparent national political resolve to deal with the drug problem, inherent contradictions regularly appear between U.S. anti-drug policy and other national policy goals and concerns. The mix of competing domestic and international pressures and priorities has produced an ongoing series of disputes within and between the legislative and executive branches concerning U.S. international drug policy. One contentious issue has been the Congressionally-mandated certification process, an instrument designed to induce specified drug-exporting countries to prioritize or pay more attention to the fight against narcotics businesses.
Clean Water Act and TMDLs: Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires states to identify waters that are impaired by pollution, even after application of pollution controls. For those waters, states must establish a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of pollutants to ensure that water quality standards can be attained. Implementation of this provision has been dormant until recently, when states and EPA were prodded by numerous lawsuits. The TMDL issue has become controversial, in part because of requirements and costs now facing states to implement a 25-year-old provision of the law. Congressional activity to reauthorize the Act, a possibility in the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress, could include TMDL issues, but the direction for any such action is unclear at this time.
Highway Fund Sanctions for Clean Air Act Violations: This report provides information concerning the authority to impose sanctions, lists the 14 areas that have been subject to sanctions since 1990, describes their status as of October 1997, and discusses the role of sanctions and alternatives under the Act.
Terrorism, the Media, and the Government: Perspectives, Trends, and Options for Policymakers: Terrorists, governments, and the media see the function, roles and responsibilities of the media when covering terrorist events from differing and often competing perspectives. Such perspectives drive behavior during terrorist incidents--often resulting in both tactical and strategic gains to the terrorist operation and the overall terrorist cause. The challenge to both the governmental and press communities is to understand the dynamics of terrorist enterprise and to develop policy options designed to serve the interests of government, the media, and the society.
Prison Litigation Reform Act: Survey of Post-Reform Act Prisoners' Civil Rights Cases: This report summarizes the Prison Litigation Reform Act and surveys post- Reform Act court decisions interpreting the Act and other cases concerning prisoners' civil rights.
Juvenile Justice Act Reauthorization: The Current Debate: No Description Available.
Mexico's Counter-Narcotics Efforts Under Zedillo, December 1994 to March 1998: No Description Available.
Independent Counsel Provisions: An Overview of the Operation of the Law: No Description Available.
Violent and Abusive Behavior in Youth: A Public Health Problem: No Description Available.
Juveniles in the Adult Criminal Justice System: An Overview: No Description Available.
Air Quality: EPA’s Proposed Ozone Transport Rule, OTAG, and Section 126 Petitions — A Hazy Situation?: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently engaged in a series of regulatory actions to address the transport of ozone pollution in the eastern United States. This report reviews this situation with respect to an EPA-proposed Ozone Transport Rule and other activities.
Air Quality: EPA's Proposed Ozone Transport Rule, OTAG, and Section 216 Petitions - A Hazy Situation?: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently engaged in a series of regulatory actions to address the transport of ozone pollution in the eastern United States. This report reviews this situation with respect to an EPA-proposed Ozone Transport Rule and other activities.
Crime Control Assistance Through the Byrne Programs: The statute provides that states receive and distribute block grant funds and that the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) of the U.S. Department of Justice awards discretionary grants for specified activities. Allocated largely on the basis of population, block grant funds are used for personnel, equipment, training, technical assistance, and information systems to improve criminal justice systems.
Fifth Amendment Privilege Against SelfIncrimination May Not Be Extended in Cases Where Only a Foreign Prosecution Is Possible: Several courts in the various circuits have considered whether the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination applies to fear of incrimination in foreign countries, and they have come to divergent conclusions. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in United States v. Balsys, and on June 25, 1998, decided that a witness may not invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in which only a foreign prosecution is possible. This report provides background on United States v. Balsys and examines the court's opinion.
Environmental Protection: Defense-Related Programs: The Department of Defense (DOD) operates six environmental programs that address cleanup of past contamination at military facilities, compliance with environmental laws and regulations that apply to current activities, cleanup at military bases being closed, pollution prevention, natural resource conservation, and environmental technology. In addition, the Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for managing defense nuclear waste generated from the past production of atomic materials used to construct nuclear weapons and for remediating contaminated sites. For FY1999, the Administration has requested a total of $10. 14 billion for DOD and DOE's defense-related environmental activities, which represents about 3.7% of the total request of $271.6 billion for national defense and is roughly 1.6% below the FY1998 funding level of $l0.30 billion.
Terrorism: U.S. Response to Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania: A New Policy Direction?: No Description Available.
The International Criminal Court Treaty: Description, Policy Issues, and Congressional Concerns: This report discusses the events leading to the creation of a permanent international criminal tribunal and U.S. perspectives on the Court including: problematic provisions in the ICC Treaty, congressional considerations, and potential implications for U.S. foreign policy.
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: This report gives an overview of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, which was intended to prohibit bribery of foreign officials by American corporations. It includes information about the original legislation, amendments in 1988, and amendments in 1998 that brought the legislation into conformance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's agreement on bribery.
Gun Industry Liability: Lawsuits and Legislation: This report discusses gun industry liability issues after the Maryland Court of Appeals announced that it was changing the common law "to hold the manufacturers and marketers of Saturday Night Special handguns strictly liable to innocent persons who suffer gunshot injuries from the criminal use of their products." Kelley v. R.G. Industries, Inc., 497 A.2d 1143, 1159 (Md. 1985).
The D.C. Circuit Remands the Ozone and Particulate Matter Clean-Air Standards:: On May 14, 1999, in American Trucking Ass'ns v. EPA, a U.S. court of Appeals ruled that deficiencies in EPA's promulgation of new primary and secondary air quality standards required that they be remanded to the agency for further consideration. The decision is controversial, in part because the two-judge majority opinion relied principally on a long-moribund legal doctrine known as the nondelegation doctrine. The decision, if it survives appeal, will thus have implications for all delegations of congressional authority to agencies. In addition, its holding that the revised ozone ambient standard cannot be enforced has sparkled debate. By itself, however, the decision is unlikely to have major short-term effects on the ozone and particulate matter control programs
Air Quality: EPA's Ozone Transport Rule, OTAG, and Section 216 Petitions - A Hazy Situation?: The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments provided the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states with new tool to address the problem of interstate transport of air pollutants. This report discusses the actions undertaken as a direct result of this act, additional pollution reduction enforcement measures pursued by the EPA, and actions undertaken by states to reduce offending emissions not in compliance with these measures.
Crime and Forfeiture: The Innocent Third Party: Forfeiture has survived through time in American law, and since 1984, the use of forfeiture statutes to divest felons of their spoils has increased substantially. This report reviews the case law which raises the issue concerning many relative to whether some civil forfeiture proceedings constitute punishment which may violate the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause.
Highway Fund Sanctions and Conformity Under the Clean Air Act: This report discusses two Clean Air Act provisions that can result in denial of federal highway funding to local areas: sanctions and the lapse of what is called "conformity." Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is required to impose highway fund or other sanctions on areas that have not submitted or not implemented adequate plans to attain air quality standards. In addition, federal agencies may not provide financial support to transportation improvements in areas that have not attained air quality standards, unless the improvements conform with the State Implementation Plan for achieving air quality. This report provides information concerning the authority to impose sanctions and to make conformity determinations, lists the areas that have been subject to sanctions determinations since 1990, describes their current status, and discusses the role of sanctions and alternatives under the Act. This report will be updated as developments warrant.
Afghanistan: Connections to Islamic Movements In Central and South Asia and Southern Russia: After several years of relative peace in Central Asia and southern Russia, Islamic extremist movements have become more active in Russia and in Central and South Asia, threatening stability in the region. Although numerous factors might account for the upsurge in activity, several of these movements appear to have connections to the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime in Afghanistan. These linkages raise questions about whether the United States, as part of a broader effort to promote peace and stability in the region, should continue to engage the Taliban regime, or strongly confront it. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Defense Cleanup and Environmental Programs: Authorization and Appropriations for FY2000: Although Congress authorizes most federal programs for multiple years, it annually authorizes programs for national defense as well as appropriating funding for them each fiscal year. Of the activities traditionally authorized and funded, the Department of Defense (DOD) administers the following six environmental programs: environmental restoration, compliance, cleanup at base closure sites, pollution prevention, environmental technology, and natural resource conservation.
EPA's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program: Highlights of Proposed Changes and Impacts on Agriculture: In August 1999 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed regulations to clarify and strengthen the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Section 303(d) requires states to identify surface waters for which wastewater discharge limits are not stringent enough to achieve water quality standards and to allocate further required pollutant reductions among sources in order to attain those standards. This report discusses the major changes in EPA's proposals, compared with existing regulatory program requirements, and potential impacts on agriculture and forestry sources, which have been controversial.
Victims' Rights Amendment: Proposals to Amend the United States Constitution in the 106th Congress: No Description Available.
Sexual Harassment and Violence Against Women: Developments in Federal Law: Gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence against women in the home, workplace, and society at large are continuing topics of legislative and judicial concern. Legal doctrines condemning the extortion of sexual favors as a condition of employment or job advancement, and other sexually offensive workplace behaviors resulting in a "hostile environment," have evolved from judicial decisions under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and related federal laws.
The Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: The Use of the Military to Execute Civilian Law: The Posse Comitatus Act outlaws willful use of any part of the Army or Air Force to execute the law unless expressly authorized by the Constitution or an Act of Congress. History supplies the grist for an argument that the Constitution prohibits military involvement in civilian affairs subject to only limited alterations by Congress or the President, but the courts do not appear to have ever accepted the argument unless a violation of more explicit constitutional command could also be shown. The provision for express constitutional authorization when in fact the The constitution contains no such express authorizations has been explained alternatively as a meaningless political face-saving device or as an unartful reference to the President's constitutional powers.
EPA's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program: Highlights of the Final Revised Rule: This report discusses the final rule and the key modifications of the August 1999 proposal. The final rule builds on the current TMDL regulatory program and adds details, specific requirements, and deadlines. It retains the basic elements of the 1999 proposal for more comprehensive identification of impaired waters, schedules and minimum elements for TMDLs, and new public participation requirements. At the same time, dropped from the final rule are several provisions that were most controversial in the proposal, including some potentially affecting agriculture and forestry, one that would have required pollutant discharge offsets in some circumstances, and one that would have required states to identify waters threatened but not yet impaired by pollution
Defense Cleanup and Environmental Programs: Authorization and Appropriations for FY2001: The Department of Defense operates six environmental programs: cleanup of past contamination at military facilities, acceleration of cleanup at military bases designated for closure, compliance with environmental laws and regulations that apply to ongoing military operations, pollution prevention, natural resource conservation, and environmental technology. In addition to these activities, the Department of Energy is responsible for managing defense nuclear waste and remediating contaminated sites. This report discusses the federal laws that established these programs, describes their scope and purpose, provides a history of appropriations, indicates the President’s budget request for FY2001, examines authorization and appropriations legislation for FY2001, and discusses other relevant legislation considered in the 106th Congress.
Police and Law Enforcement: Selected Issues: No Description Available.
Prisons: Policy Options for Congress: No Description Available.
Clean Air Standards: The Supreme Court Agrees to Review: In May, 2000, the Supreme Court agreed to review this decision, raising the prospect of a major pronouncement on the non-delegation doctrine, the enforceability of the revised ozone standard, and the role of compliance costs in setting nationwide air quality standards.

Congressional Research Service Reports - 1,109 Matching Results

Search Results

Add Filters

Applied Filters