Congressional Research Service Reports - 220 Matching Results
Search Results
- Statutory Canon Aimed at International Organization Immunity
- This report discusses the upcoming Supreme Court case Jam v. International Finance Corp. The petitioners--a group of Indian nationals from Gujarat--seek to hold International Finance Corp. (IFC) liable for extensive environmental damage throughout their community caused by the construction of a power plant financed and overseen by IFC. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit) dismissed their lawsuit, holding, in accordance with the circuit's precedent, that the International Organizations Immunities Act (IOIA) grants absolute immunity to IFC in this case.
- Energy and Water Development: FY2010 Appropriations
- This report discusses the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill that provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Department of Energy (DOE), and several independent agencies.
- Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues
- No Description Available.
- Legal Issues Related to Prescription Drug Sales on the Internet
- No Description Available.
- The Endangered Species Act and "Sound Science"
- This report provides a context for evaluating legislative proposals through examples of how science has been used in selected cases, a discussion of the nature and role of science in general, and its role in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) process in particular, together with general and agency information quality requirements and policies, and a review of how the courts have viewed agency use of science.
- Capital Punishment: An Overview of Federal Death Penalty Statutes
- With the passage of P.L. 103-322, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the federal death penalty became available as a possible punishment for a substantial number of new and existing civilian offenses. On April 24, 1996, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 made further modifications and additions to the list of federal capital crimes. On June 25, 2002, P.L. 107-197, the Terrorist Bombings Convention Implementation Act of 2002, added another capital crime to the United States Code. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, P.L. 108-458, enacted December 17, 2004, included provisions which impacted or expanded some of the existing death penalty provisions. This report lists the current federal capital offenses and summarizes the procedures for federal civilian death penalty cases.
- State Legalization of Recreational Marijuana: Selected Legal Issues
- This report summarizes the Washington and Colorado marijuana legalization laws and evaluates whether, or the extent to which, they may be preempted by the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) or by international agreements. It also highlights potential responses to these recent legalization initiatives by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and identifies other noncriminal consequences that marijuana users may face under federal law.
- Implementing Acid Rain Legislation
- This report discusses the broad-ranging provisions in Title IV of The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (P.L. 101-549), which raise myriad implementation issues, particularly with respect to the system of tradable "allowances."
- Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, H.R. 1036 and S. 659, 108th Congress: Legal Analysis
- No Description Available.
- Copyright Law: Digital Rights Management Legislation in the 107th and 108th Congresses
- Digital Rights Management (DRM) refers to the technology that copyright owners use to protect digital media. This report surveys several of the DRM bills that were introduced in the 107th and 108th Congresses. Generally, the bills are directed at two separate goals. One goal is to increase access to digitally-protected media for lawful purposes. The other attempts to thwart digital piracy and would do so by enhancing civil and criminal sanctions for digital (and traditional) copyright infringement and educating the public about the rights of copyright holders.
- Juvenile Justice Act Reauthorization: The Current Debate
- No Description Available.
- Federal Employees' Retirement Benefits: Bills in the 108th Congress
- This report describes the bills introduced in the 108th Congress that would affect participants in either CSRS or FERS. It begins by summarizing laws enacted during the 107th Congress that affected CSRS or FERS.
- The Constitutionality of Regulating Political Advertisements: An Analysis of Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.
- On June 25, 2007, in a 5-4 decision, the Sumpreme Court in Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. v. FEC affirmed a lower court ruling, finding that a provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, prohibiting corporate or labor union treasury funds from being spent on advertisements broadcast within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election, was unconstitutional as applied to ads that Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. sought to run. In later decisions, it was ruled that advertisements that may reasonably be interpreted as something other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate are not the functional equivalent of express advocacy and, therefore, cannot be regulated. This report examines and analyzes these decisions and how they effect campaign law.
- Administrative Law Judges: An Overview
- This report summarizes what an administrative law judge (ALJ) is, what they do, and their responsibilities as one. Moreover, the report explains that ALJ's have both a rulemaking and judicial role in work done by executive agencies. Finally, the report emphasizes the differences between ALJs and non-ALJs that also conduct judicial activities in federal agencies.
- The Possible Legal Effects of the Proposed "Equal Rights" Amendment in the Area of Domestic Relations.
- This report includes the Possible Legal Effects of the Proposed "Equal Rights" Amendment in the Area of Domestic Relations.
- Biological and Chemical Weapons: Criminal Sanctions and Federal Regulations
- This report reviews criminal sanctions attaching to the development,production,possesion, and use of biological weapons.It also addresses certain federal regulations attaching to the development,production, and transportation of biological agents.
- Same-Sex Adoptions
- This report summarizes states laws concerning non-relative adoption by homosexual individuals and couples.
- The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Overview of P.L. 108-446
- The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal program concerning the education of children with disabilities. It authorizes state and local aid for special education and related services for children with disabilities and contains detailed due process protections for children with disabilities and their parents. On December 3, 2004, President Bush signed “the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Improvement Act” (P.L. 108-446), a major reauthorization and revision of IDEA. The new law preserves the basic structure and civil rights guarantees of IDEA but also makes significant changes in the law. Most provisions of P.L. 108-446 go into effect on July 1, 2005. This report will briefly discuss several of the major changes made by the reauthorization.
- Obstruction of Justice: An Abridged Overview of Related Federal Criminal Laws
- This report briefly discusses obstruction of justice, which is defined as the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. This is an abridged version of CRS Report RL34304, Obstruction of Justice: An Overview of Some of the Federal Statutes That Prohibit Interference with Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Activities, by Charles Doyle, without the footnotes, quotations, or citations to authority found in the longer report.
- Obstruction of Justice: An Overview of Some of the Federal Statutes That Prohibit Interference with Judicial, Executive, or Legislative Activities
- Obstruction of justice is the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. It is a federal crime. In fact, federal obstruction of justice laws are legion; too many for even passing reference to all of them in a single report. This is a brief description of the some of the more prominent.
- Women’s Health: Provisions of Selected Legislation, 1983-1998
- This report summarizes the major women's health provisions of selected legislation enacted from 1983 through 1998 that relate to women's health.
- Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion and Removal of Aliens
- The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) spells out a strict set of admissions criteria and exclusion rules for all foreign nationals who come permanently to the United States as immigrants (i.e., legal permanent residents) or temporarily as nonimmigrants. This report opens with an overview of the grounds for inadmissibility and summarizes key legislation enacted in recent years. Where relevant, the report discusses how recently enacted legislation, including the REAL ID Act, affects these matters. This report also briefly discusses two recent proposals that would modify the terrorism-related provisions of the INA.
- Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion and Removal of Aliens
- "This report opens with an overview of the grounds for inadmissibility and summarizes key legislation enacted in recent years" (p. i).
- Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion and Removal of Aliens
- "This report opens with an overview of the grounds for inadmissibility and summarizes key legislation enacted in recent years" (p. i).
- Taxes, Exports and Investment: ETI/FSC and Domestic Investment Proposals in the 108th Congress
- No Description Available.
- Minimum Distribution Requirements for Foundations: Proposal to Disallow Administrative Costs
- No Description Available.
- Obstruction of Congress: An Abridged Overview of Federal Criminal Laws Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities
- This report briefly discusses obstruction of justice, specifically regarding Congressional activities. Obstruction of justice is defined as the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. This is an abridged version of CRS Report RL34304, Obstruction of Congress: A Brief Overview of Federal Law Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities, by Charles Doyle, without the footnotes, quotations, or citations to authority found in the longer report.
- Obstruction of Congress: A Brief Overview of Federal Law Relating to Interference with Congressional Activities
- Obstruction of justice is the frustration of governmental purposes by violence, corruption, destruction of evidence, or deceit. It is a federal crime. In fact, federal obstruction of justice laws are legion; too many for even passing reference to all of them in a single report. This is a brief description of those that outlaw interference with congressional activities.
- Perjury Under Federal Law: A Brief Overview
- This report describes perjury under federal law, including a definition as well as in-depth explorations of the three general federal perjury laws. This report is available in abbreviated form - without footnotes, quotations, or citations - as CRS Report 98-807, Perjury Under Federal Law: A Sketch of the Elements.
- Perjury Under Federal Law: A Sketch of the Elements
- This report discusses the three general federal perjury laws. This report is an abbreviated version of CRS Report 98-808, Perjury Under Federal Law: A Brief Overview, by Charles Doyle, stripped of most footnotes, quotations, citations, and bibliography.
- Appropriations for FY1996 : Military Construction One of a series of CRS Reports on FY1996 appropriations
- This report addresses the Military Construction(MilCon) Appropriations for FY1996.
- Crime Control Assistance Through the Byrne Programs
- No Description Available.
- Questions and Answers on Homesteads, Public Land Sales, and Sources of Additional Information
- This report answers frequently asked questions regarding the sale of public lands and homestead laws and provides further sources on the topic.
- Abortion: Judicial and Legislative Control
- This report
- The Fourth Amendment Third-Party Doctrine
- This report describes congressional efforts to supplement legal protection for access to third-party records, as well as suggesting possible future directions in the law.
- House Committee Funding, 110th Congress
- This report summarizes requests from individual committees and funding levels reported by the Committee on House Administration, and compares 110th Congress-reported levels to authorizations for House committees in the 109th Congress.
- Vulnerable Youth: Employment and Job Training Programs
- This report provides an overview of federal employment programs for vulnerable young people. It begins with a discussion of the current challenges in preparing all youth today for the workforce. The report hen provides a chronology of job training and employment programs for at-risk youth that began in the 1930s.
- Internet Domain Names: Background and Policy Issues
- This report provides an overview of the background and policy issues of the internet domain names.
- Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals: Legislative History and Current Status
- This report provides an overview of the history and current status of the item veto and expanded impoundment proposals.
- Products Liability: A Legal Overview
- No Description Available.
- Protecting Consumers and Businesses from Fraudulent Robocalls
- This report discusses efforts by Congress and the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) to combat robocall scams and prevent them from reaching consumers. It includes an overview of what robocallls are, their legitimate uses, regulation, and complaint procedures for consumers.
- Do Courts Have Inherent Authority to Release Secret Grand Jury Materials?
- This report discusses the issue of releasing secret grand jury material. Although a long-established principle that has been deemed essential to the grand jury's functioning and independence is that matters occurring before it are to be kept secret, the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) establishes exceptions.
- The Federal Grand Jury
- This report is a brief general description of the federal grand jury, with particular emphasis on its more controversial aspects—relationship of the prosecutor and the grand jury, the rights of grand jury witnesses, grand jury secrecy, and rights of targets of a grand jury investigation.
- Pandemic Flu and Medical Biodefense Countermeasure Liability Limitation
- This report analyzes Division C of the Department of Defense Emergency Supplemental Appropriations, P.L. 109-148, which was signed into law on December 30, 2005, and which limits liability with respect to pandemic flu and other public health countermeasures.
- Statutory Interpretation: Theories, Tools, and Trends
- This report begins by discussing the general goals of statutory interpretation, reviewing a variety of contemporary as well as historical approaches. The report then briefly describes the two primary theories of interpretation employed today, before examining the main types of tools that courts use to determine statutory meaning. The report concludes by exploring developing issues in statutory interpretation.
- Alien Registration Requirements: Obama Administration Removes Certain Regulations, but Underlying Statutory Authority Remains
- This report briefly surveys the legal authorities that underlay the implementation of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), as well as the authorities that remain available to the Executive notwithstanding the recent rule change by President Obama on December 23, 2016 which removed the regulations for the system.
- Abortion: Judicial and Legislative Control
- This report is about Abortions and Constitution Amendments.
- “Fast Track” Legislative Procedures Governing Congressional Consideration of a Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Commission Report
- This report describes these expedited parliamentary procedures abd explains how they differ from the regular legislative processes of Congress.
- Ecstasy: Actions of the 107th Congress to Control MDMA
- Legislation has been proposed in the 107th Congress to combat the use and abuse of Ecstasy (MDMA) and other “club drugs.” In a 2001 survey, 12% of 12th graders reported ever having taken the drug. The Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act of 2000, enacted by the 106th Congress, directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to increase penalties for Ecstasy offenses. As of March 2001, MDMA penalties became more severe than for powder cocaine but less severe than for heroin.
- Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues
- Report on the legal issues surrounding same-sex marriage, including the Defense of Marriage Act, challenges to the act, state response, federal legislation, and more.