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Reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC): Selection of Judges

Description: This report surveys the process of "designation," an alternative method used by Congress that allows current federal judges to serve temporarily on another federal court without undergoing a separate constitutional appointment. It explores how a reviewing court might evaluate the constitutionality of these proposals that would shift the authority to select Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) judges away from the Chief Justice alone, and vest it in other officials within the judicial, e… more
Date: May 7, 2014
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Recess Appointments: A Legal Overview

Description: This report provides an overview of the Recess Appointments Clause, exploring its historical application and legal interpretation by the executive branch, the courts, and the Comptroller General. Furthermore, congressional legislation designed to prevent the President's overuse or misuse of the Clause is also explored.
Date: May 12, 2011
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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DC Gun Laws and Proposed Amendments

Description: In the 112th Congress, Representative Mike Ross introduced H.R. 645, "To restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia." This measure is identical to H.R. 5162 from the previous Congress. This report provides an analysis of the District's firearms laws and congressional proposals.
Date: April 26, 2011
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Congressional Authority to Regulate Firearms: A Legal Overview

Description: Courts have been confronted with the question of whether federal laws can be applied to intrastate possession and intrastate transfers of firearms, or whether such application exceeds the authority of Congress. This report explores these cases and how courts have analyzed these as-applied challenges under the Supreme Court's Commerce Clause jurisprudence primarily set forth in United States v. Lopez.
Date: April 5, 2013
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Legal Issues

Description: This report reviews the disposition of the challenges on the federal assault weapons ban. It also discusses Second Amendment jurisprudence in light of the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller and how lower courts have evaluated state and local assault weapons bans post-Heller.
Date: February 14, 2013
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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No Second Amendment Cases for the Supreme Court's 2014-2015 Term...Yet

Description: This report discusses the reluctance by the Supreme Court to take cases involving the Second Amendment. Commentators have observed that the Court appears to have become "gun shy" regarding this issue, given that it has not taken up a Second Amendment case since its landmark rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 and McDonald v. City of Chicago in 2010.
Date: October 23, 2014
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Recess Appointments: A Legal Overview

Description: This report provides an overview of the Recess Appointments Clause, exploring its historical application and legal interpretation by the executive branch, the courts, and the Comptroller General. Furthermore, congressional legislation designed to prevent the President's overuse or misuse of the Clause is also explored.
Date: January 6, 2012
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Products Liability: A Legal Overview

Description: This report discusses products liability, which refers to the liability of a manufacturer or seller for injury caused by his product to the person or property of a buyer or third party. Legal developments starting in the 1960s, particularly the adoption of strict tort liability, have made it substantially easier for persons injured by defective products to recover damages.
Date: January 16, 2009
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Emergency Response: Civil Liability of Volunteer Health Professionals

Description: This report discusses the patchwork of federal and state laws that operate to protect volunteers, which can include volunteer health professionals (VHPs), and those laws that trigger liability protection only for VHPs — with a focus on some of the midwestern states in addition to the Gulf region.
Date: January 19, 2011
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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D.C. Gun Laws and Proposed Amendments

Description: In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which declared three firearms provisions of the D.C. Code unconstitutional, a flurry of legislation was introduced both in Congress and in the District of Columbia Council. This report provides an analysis of the District's firearms laws and congressional proposals.
Date: June 28, 2010
Creator: Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Executive Orders: Issuance, Modification, and Revocation

Description: This report reviews the "definition" of an executive order and how it is distinguishable from other written instruments, and then provides an overview of the President's constitutional authority to issue such directives. Next, the report discusses the legal framework relied on by the courts to analyze the validity of presidential actions, and also discusses the roles of the President and Congress in modifying and revoking executive orders.
Date: April 16, 2014
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Garvey, Todd
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FBI Director: Appointment and Tenure

Description: This report reviews the legislative history surrounding the enactment of the 1968 and 1976 amendments to the appointment of the FBI Director, as well as information on the nominees to the FBI Directorship since 1972. It also provides a legal overview of the extension of a Director's tenure.
Date: February 19, 2014
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Hogue, Henry B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FBI Director: Appointment and Tenure

Description: Report that first reviews the legislative history surrounding the enactment of the 1968 and 1976 amendments to the appointment of the FBI Director, as well as information on the nominees to the FBI Directorship since 1972. The report also provides a legal overview of the extension of a Director's tenure.
Date: May 30, 2013
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Hogue, Henry B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FBI Directorship: History and Congressional Action

Description: This report first provides some legislative history surrounding the enactment of the 1968 and 1976 amendments to the appointment of the FBI Director, as well as information on the nominees to the FBI Directorship since 1972. The report then discusses precedent for lengthening the tenure of an office and the constitutionality of extending the tenure of the Directorship for the current incumbent, and addresses whether it would be necessary for Mr. Mueller to be appointed a second time.
Date: June 7, 2011
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Hogue, Henry B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Tort Suits Against Federal Contractors: An Overview of the Legal Issues

Description: This report provides an overview of key legal issues that have been raised to date in recent tort suits against government contractors. Most of these issues pertain to jurisdiction, or the court’s power over the parties or subject matter of the case. A number of cases are pending that could affect courts’ treatment of the issues discussed here.
Date: April 7, 2011
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Manuel, Kate M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Judgment Fund: History, Administration, and Common Usage

Description: This report sets out specific instances in which the Fund can be accessed and illustrates the procedural mechanisms for obtaining payment under certain statutory causes of action. In addition, this report will briefly highlight several recently proposed changes to the Judgment Fund’s administration. In the 113th Congress, the Judgment Fund Transparency Act of 2013 (H.R. 317) would require the Secretary of the Treasury to post on a public website the claimant, agency, fact summary, and payment a… more
Date: March 7, 2013
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Yeh, Brian T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Gun Trafficking and the Southwest Border

Description: 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.
Date: July 29, 2009
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Gun Trafficking and the Southwest Border

Description: 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.
Date: September 21, 2009
Creator: Chu, Vivian S. & Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Introducing a Public Advocate into the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's Courts: Select Legal Issues

Description: This report explores government surveillance act and other difficult constitutional issues prompted by the idea of including a new adversary in established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) FISA court proceedings.
Date: October 25, 2013
Creator: Nolan, Andrew; Thompson, Richard M., II & Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts: Introducing a Public Advocate

Description: This report explores all of these difficult constitutional issues prompted by the idea of making Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) court proceedings more adversarial. It includes background on public advocates, their roles and appointment, and Article III issues raised by a FISA public advocate.
Date: March 21, 2014
Creator: Nolan, Andrew; Thompson, Richard M., II & Chu, Vivian S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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President Obama’s January 4, 2012, Recess Appointments: Legal Issues

Description: This report analyzes the legal issues associated with the President's asserted exercise of his Recess Appointments Clause power on January 4, 2012. The report begins with a general legal overview of the Recess Appointment Clause. This is followed by an analysis of two legal principles, standing and the political question doctrine, which may impede a reviewing court from reaching the merits of a potential legal challenge to the appointments.
Date: January 23, 2012
Creator: Carpenter, David H.; Chu, Vivian S.; Dolan, Alissa M. & Garvey, Todd
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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