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Armed Career Criminal Act (18 U.S.C. 924(e)): An Overview

Description: 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.
Date: July 29, 2015
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Crime and Forfeiture: The Innocent Third Party

Description: 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.
Date: June 29, 1999
Creator: Wallace, Paul S., Jr.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Defense Cleanup and Environmental Programs: Authorization and Appropriations for FY2003

Description: The Department of Defense (DOD) administers five environmental programs in response to various requirements under federal environmental laws. These programs include environmental cleanup, environmental compliance, pollution prevention, environmental technology, and conservation. Additionally, the Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for managing defense nuclear waste and cleaning up contaminated nuclear weapons sites. The Administration requested a total of $11.17 billion for these program… more
Date: October 29, 2002
Creator: Bearden, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Digital Searches and Seizures: Overview of Proposed Amendments to Rule 41 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure

Description: This report provides a brief overview of the proposed amendment to Rule 41. First, it provides a background on the origin of, and rationale underlying, the proposed amendment and a description of the rule as currently written. Second, it reviews the potential changes made by the proposed amendment and will survey various concerns commenters have raised with the proposal. Lastly, this report addresses efforts being made in Congress to alter, delay, or stop this rule change.
Date: June 29, 2016
Creator: Thompson, Richard M., II
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Drug Control: International Policy and Approaches

Description: 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 dom… more
Date: July 29, 2003
Creator: Perl, Raphael F.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Enemy Combatant Detainees: Habeas Corpus Challenges in Federal Court

Description: This report provides an overview of the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) procedures, summarizes court cases related to the detentions and the use of military commissions, and summarizes the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA), as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2006, analyzing its effects on detainee-related litigation in federal court. The report summarizes pending legislation and provides an analysis of relevant constitutional issues that may have some bearing on Congress's options… more
Date: July 29, 2008
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.; Garcia, Michael John & Thomas, Kenneth R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Enemy Combatant Detainees: Habeas Corpus Challenges in Federal Court

Description: 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.
Date: January 29, 2009
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.; Garcia, Michael J. & Thomas, Kenneth R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Protective Service and Contract Security Guards: A Statutory History and Current Status

Description: The Federal Protective Service (FPS) -- within U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) -- is responsible for protecting federal government property, personnel, visitors, and customers, including property leased by the General Services Administration (GSA). FPS currently employs over 15,000 contract security guards to protect federal property. DHS intends, according to its FY2009 budget justification, to continue the use of contract security guards… more
Date: May 29, 2008
Creator: Reese, Shawn
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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First Responder Initiative: Policy Issues and Options

Description: This report provides background information and policy analysis pertinent to proposals to restructure first responder assistance programs. Specifically, this report provides information on existing programs, appropriations, legislation in the 108th Congress, and selected policy issues. This report does not discuss all relevant policy issues, but, rather, those issues that may be germane to any significant restructuring of existing programs.
Date: September 29, 2003
Creator: Canada, Ben
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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Hate Crime Legislation

Description: This report provides an overview of the hate crime debate, with background on current law and hate crime statistics, and a legislative history of hate crime prevention bills in recent Congresses. This report does not analyze the constitutional or other legal issues that often arise as part of the hate crime debate.
Date: November 29, 2010
Creator: Krouse, William J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Human Trafficking and Forced Labor: Trends in Import Restrictions

Description: This report discusses issues regarding a provision against forced labor in the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307), which prohibited from import into the United States "all goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in any foreign country by convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor under penal sanctions" (Section 307 of the Act).
Date: July 29, 2016
Creator: Rosen, Liana W.; Villarreal, M. A. & Feng, Ashley
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001: Dismissals of Claims Against Saudi Defendants Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)

Description: 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.
Date: October 29, 2008
Creator: Henning, Anna C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Iraqi Police and Security Forces Casualties Estimates

Description: This report presents various governmental and non-governmental estimates of Iraqi police and security forces fatalities. The Department of Defense (DOD) regularly updates total U.S. military deaths and wounded statistics from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), as reflected in CRS Report RS21578, Iraq: U.S. Casualties, and has released the monthly pattern of Iraqi security forces deaths. For information on Iraqi civilian deaths, see CRS Report RS22537, Iraqi Civilian Deaths Estimates. Because these … more
Date: August 29, 2008
Creator: Fischer, Hannah
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Is Violent Crime in the United States Increasing?

Description: 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.
Date: October 29, 2015
Creator: James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Islamist Extremism in Europe

Description: Although the vast majority of Muslims in Europe are not involved in radical activities, Islamist extremists and vocal fringe communities that advocate terrorism exist and reportedly have provided cover for terrorist cells. This report provides an overview of Islamist extremism in Europe, possible terrorist links, European responses, and implications for the United States.
Date: July 29, 2005
Creator: Archick, Kristin; Rollins, John & Woehrel, Steven
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Judicial Activity Concerning Enemy Combatant Detainees: Major Court Rulings

Description: This report discusses major judicial opinions concerning suspected enemy belligerents detained in the conflict with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The report addresses all Supreme Court decisions concerning enemy combatants. It also discusses notable circuit court opinions addressing issues of ongoing relevance.
Date: March 29, 2011
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K. & Garcia, Michael John
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Lawsuits Against State Supporters of Terrorism: An Overview

Description: A 1996 amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) enables American victims of international terrorist acts supported by certain States designated by the State Department as supporters of terrorism -- Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and previously Iraq and Libya -- to bring suit in U.S. courts to seek monetary damages. Despite congressional efforts to make blocked (of "frozen) assets of such States available for attachment by judgment creditors in such cases, plaintiffs enco… more
Date: April 29, 2008
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Missing and Exploited Children: Background, Policies, and Issues

Description: This report covers only select aspects of the broader topic of missing and exploited children. It begins with an overview of the scope of the missing and exploited children issue, including definitions and approximate numbers of children known to be missing or exploited. The report also provides information about the Missing and Exploited Children's (MEC) program's funding, oversight, and major components. Finally, the report discusses issues that may be relevant to the MEC program.
Date: April 29, 2015
Creator: Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Navy Role in Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) -- Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The Navy for several years has carried out a variety of activities related to what the Administration refers to as the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). The Navy states that as of February 2008, more than 11,300 Navy sailors (including Individual Augmentees) were ashore supporting ground forces in the U.S. Central Command region (including Iraq and Afghanistan). The Navy's role in the GWOT raises several potential oversight issues for Congress.
Date: May 29, 2008
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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