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Campaign Finance Regulation Under the First Amendment: Buckley v. Valeo and its Supreme Court Progeny

Description: This report first discusses the critical holdings enunciated bythe SupremeCourt in Buckley, including those: upholding reasonable contribution limits, striking down expenditure limits, upholding disclosure reporting requirements, and upholding the system of voluntary presidential election expenditure limitations linked with public financing. It then examines the Court’s extension of Buckley in fifteen subsequent cases, evaluating them in three regulatory contexts: contribution limits (Californi… more
Date: July 9, 2003
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Campaign Finance Regulation Under the First Amendment: Buckley v. Valeo and its Supreme Court Progeny

Description: This report first discusses the critical holdings enunciated bythe SupremeCourt in Buckley, including those: upholding reasonable contribution limits, striking down expenditure limits, upholding disclosure reporting requirements, and upholding the system of voluntary presidential election expenditure limitations linked with public financing. It then examines the Court’s extension of Buckley in fifteen subsequent cases, evaluating them in three regulatory contexts: contribution limits (Californi… more
Date: August 28, 2003
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Citizen Control Over Records Held by Third Parties

Description: The United States has become an information society. Government at every level and private industry have been collecting and using more personal information about individuals in the last several years than ever before. The Congress has been aware of this trend, and of the potencia1 for misuse of the information so collected; it has enacted several laws that protect the personal privacy of individuals, and respect the confidentiality of the information maintained about individuals by third parti… more
Date: December 8, 1978
Creator: Collins, Sarah P
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Comparison of California's Financial Information Privacy Act of 2003 with Federal Privacy Provisions

Description: The California Financial Information Privacy Act,1 enacted on August 28, 2003, and effective on July 1, 2004, governs the rights of California residents with respect to the dissemination of nonpublic personal information by financial institutions. In some respects, it diverges from two federal laws that impose restrictions on the dissemination of nonpublic personally identifiable customer information by financial information.
Date: January 6, 2004
Creator: Murphy, M. Maureen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Wireless Privacy and Spam: Issues for Congress

Description: Wireless communications devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are ubiquitous. Some consumers, already deluged with unwanted commercial messages, or “spam,” via computers that access the Internet by traditional wireline connections, are concerned that such unsolicited advertising is expanding to wireless communications, further eroding their privacy. Congress continues to debate how to protect wireless subscribers further, and several bills were considered in the 108… more
Date: December 22, 2004
Creator: Smith, Marcia S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Endangered Species Act and Claims of Property Rights "Takings"

Description: This report first outlines the ESA provisions most relevant to the act’s impacts on private property, and then surveys the major ESA-relevant principles of Fifth Amendment takings law. The report then proceeds to its core topic: the court decisions adjudicating whether government measures based on the ESA effect a taking of property under the Fifth Amendment. The cases address four kinds of ESA measures: (1) restrictions on land uses that might adversely affect species listed as endangered or t… more
Date: October 14, 2005
Creator: Meltz, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Guantanamo Detainees: Habeas Corpus Challenges in Federal Court

Description: This report provides an overview of the Combatant Status Review Tribunal procedures, summarizes court cases related to the detentions and the use of military commissions, and summarizes the Graham Amendment and analyzes how it might affect detainee-related litigation in federal court.
Date: December 7, 2005
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K. & Thomas, Kenneth
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Constitutionality of Applying the FCC's Indecency Restriction to Cable Television

Description: Various federal officials have spoken in favor of extending the Federal Communication Commission’s indecency restriction, which currently applies to broadcast television and radio, to cable and satellite television. This report examines whether such an extension would violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech.
Date: December 1, 2005
Creator: Cohen, Henry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Interrogation of Detainees: Overview of the McCain Amendment

Description: This report discusses the recent controversy that has arisen regarding U.S. treatment of enemy combatants and terrorist suspects detained in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, and whether such treatment complies with U.S. statutes and treaties such as the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Congress recently approved additional guidelines concerning the treatment of detainees. The Department of Defense, Emergency… more
Date: January 24, 2006
Creator: Garcia, Michael John
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy

Description: Following a review of such broad policy issues, this report treats specific human rights issues of current interest. Discussions of controversy over the selection of an Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs and of human rights policy at the international financial institutions are followed by reviews of U.S. human rights policy toward Argentina, El Salvador, Nicaragua, South Africa, and the Soviet Union.
Date: November 24, 1982
Creator: Bite, Vita
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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China and Falun Gong

Description: “Falun Gong,” also known as “Falun Dafa,”1 combines an exercise regimen with meditation and moral tenets. The “Falun Gong” movement has led to the largest and most protracted public demonstrations in China since the democracy movement of 1989. On April 25, 1999, an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 adherents assembled in front of Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Communist Party leadership compound, and participated in a silent protest against state repression of their activities. On July 21, 1999, the People’… more
Date: May 25, 2006
Creator: Lum, Thomas
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Habeas Corpus Relief: Background, Legislation, and Issues

Description: This report examines the issues surrounding the debate on whether to further restrict state prisoners’ access to federal habeas corpus filings. This report does not discuss issues related to federalism and the proper role of the federal court system in overseeing the actions of state courts pertaining to prisoners’ constitutional rights. The report opens with a discussion of a commission that was established in 1988 to study and make recommendations of the then-current federal habeas corpus sys… more
Date: February 1, 2006
Creator: Seghetti, Lisa M. & James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Habeas Corpus: An Abridged Sketch

Description: This report discusses federal habeas corpus, which is a procedure under which a federal court may review the legality of an individual’s incarceration. It is most often invoked after conviction and the exhaustion of the ordinary means of appeal. It is at once the last refuge of scoundrels and the last hope of the innocent. It is an intricate weave of statute and case law whose reach has flowed and ebbed over time.
Date: April 28, 2006
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Habeas Corpus: A Brief Legal Overview

Description: This report discusses Federal habeas corpus, which is a procedure under which a federal court may review the legality of an individual’s incarceration. It is most often the stage of the criminal appellate process that follows direct appeal and any available state collateral review.
Date: April 26, 2006
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Interrogation of Detainees: Overview of the McCain Amendment

Description: Controversy has arisen regarding U.S. treatment of enemy combatants and terrorist suspects detained in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, and whether such treatment complies with U.S. statutes and treaties such as the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Congress approved additional guidelines concerning the treatment of detainees via the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA), which was enact… more
Date: September 20, 2006
Creator: Garcia, Michael J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Interrogation of Detainees: Overview of the McCain Amendment

Description: Controversy has arisen regarding U.S. treatment of enemy combatants and terrorist suspects detained in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations, and whether such treatment complies with U.S. statutes and treaties such as the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Congress approved additional guidelines concerning the treatment of detainees via the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA), which was enact… more
Date: September 25, 2006
Creator: Garcia, Michael John
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

China and "Falun Gong"

Description: This report discusses the “Falun Gong” movement, which led to the largest and most protracted public demonstrations in China since the democracy movement of 1989. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government, fearful of a political challenge and the spread of social unrest, outlawed Falun Gong in July 1999. Despite a massive government campaign against them and harsh punishments meted out to many followers, Falun Gong members continued to stage demonstrations for over two years.
Date: January 23, 2004
Creator: Lum, Thomas
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Internet Privacy: Overview and Pending Legislation

Description: Internet privacy issues generally encompass two types of concerns. One is the collection of personally identifiable information (PII) by website operators from visitors to government and commercial websites, or by software that is surreptitiously installed on a user’s computer (“spyware”) and transmits the information to someone else. The other is the monitoring of electronic mail and Web usage by the government or law enforcement officials, employers, or email service providers.
Date: October 19, 2005
Creator: Smith, Marcia S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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