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Intellectual Property Rights Violations: Federal Civil Remedies and Criminal Penalties Related to Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents, and Trade Secrets

Description: This report provides background information and issues for Congress on multiyear procurement (MYP) and block buy contracting (BBC), which are special contracting mechanisms that Congress permits the Department of Defense (DOD) to use for a limited number of defense acquisition programs.
Date: May 27, 2016
Creator: Yeh, Brian T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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FY2016 Changes to DOD's 1033 Program

Description: This report briefly discusses the current status of the Department of Defense's (DOD's) 1033 Program, under which excess DOD property -- such as personal computers, vehicles, and firearms -- are made available to qualified federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.
Date: February 16, 2016
Creator: Else, Daniel H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Framing Spectrum Policy: Legislative Initiatives

Description: This report examines legislative initiatives to address issues regarding radio frequency spectrum management and allocation. Access to radio frequency spectrum is essential to wireless communications. As demand for mobile services increases, from all sectors of society and the economy, so does the need to increase the capacity of wireless networks.
Date: May 18, 2016
Creator: Moore, Linda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Public Trust and Law Enforcement--A Brief Discussion for Policymakers

Description: This report provides a brief overview of police-community relations and how the federal government might be able to promote more accountability and better relationships between citizens and law enforcement.
Date: March 22, 2016
Creator: James, Nathan; Bjelopera, Jerome P.; Finklea, Kristin; Keegan, Natalie; Lister, Sarah A.; Sacco, Lisa N. et al.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Judge Merrick Garland: His Jurisprudence and Potential Impact on the Supreme Court

Description: This report provides an overview of Judge Garland's jurisprudence and discusses what the impact on the Court might be if he, or a judge of a similar judicial approach, were to be confirmed to succeed Justice Scalia. The report begins with his views on two overarching issues -- the role of the judiciary and statutory interpretation -- it then addresses 14 separate areas of law, which are arranged in alphabetical order from "administrative law" to "takings."
Date: April 27, 2016
Creator: Nolan, Andrew; Manuel, Kate M. & Murrill, Brandon J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Majority, Concurring, and Dissenting Opinions Authored by Judge Merrick Garland

Description: This report identifies and briefly summarizes each of the more than 350 cases in which Judge Garland has authored a majority, concurring, or dissenting opinion. Arguably, these written opinions provide the greatest insight into Judge Garland's judicial approach, as a judge's vote in a case or decision to join an opinion authored by a colleague may be based upon a number of considerations and may not necessarily represent full agreement with a joined opinion.
Date: May 2, 2016
Creator: Mason, R. C.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Federal Circuit Rules on Trademarks Considered Offensive: May Affect Redskins Trademark Dispute

Description: This legal sidebar examines cases involving the revocation of the Washington Redskins' federally-registered trademarks (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse) and the refusal to grant registration for a rock band's name (In re Tam). These cases raise questions about the constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 (conventionally known as the Lanham Act), which denies trademark registration to certain offensive content.
Date: August 8, 2016
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Corporate Inversions: Frequently Asked Legal Questions

Description: This report answers frequently-asked legal questions about corporate inversions. It answers questions relating to the scope and operation of Section 7874, including how key statutory terms have been interpreted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It discusses important Department of Treasury regulations that were finalized in 2015 and 2016, and answers questions about the IRS's authority to issue these regulations. Other questions that are answered relate to legislation introduced in the 114… more
Date: September 7, 2016
Creator: Lunder, Erika K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Appointment of African American U.S. Circuit and District Court Judges: Historical Overview and Current Data

Description: This report briefly provides historical and statistical information related to the appointment of African Americans as U.S. circuit and district court judges. Such information addresses ongoing congressional interest in the demographic characteristics of lower federal court judges.
Date: February 12, 2016
Creator: McMillion, Barry J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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"Sense of" Resolutions and Provisions

Description: This report discusses specific kinds of resolutions by which Congress may formally express opinions about subjects of current national interest through freestanding simple or concurrent resolutions (called generically "sense of the House," "sense of the Senate," or "sense of the Congress" resolutions). These opinions expressing the views of one or both chambers may be included in other legislation upon introduction or subsequently added by amendment. This report identifies the various forms the… more
Date: May 16, 2016
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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State Challenges to Federal Enforcement of Immigration Law: From the Mid-1990s to the Present

Description: This report provides an overview of challenges by states to federal officials' alleged failure to enforce provisions of immigration law. It begins by discussing (1) the lawsuits filed by six states in the mid-1990s; (2) Arizona's counterclaims to the federal government's suit to enjoin enforcement of S.B. 1070; and (3) Mississippi's challenge to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. It then describes the challenge brought by over 25 states or state officials in December … more
Date: August 1, 2016
Creator: Manuel, Kate M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 114th Congress

Description: This report discusses border security, interior enforcement, visa security, asylum, and other immigration-related issues that have received legislative action or are of significant congressional interest in the 114th Congress.
Date: September 9, 2016
Creator: Bruno, Andorra; Argueta, Carla N.; Bjelopera, Jerome P.; Garcia, Michael John; Kandel, William A. & Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Recent State Election Law Challenges: In Brief

Description: This report begins by setting forth key constitutional provisions relevant to recent state election law challenges. Next, it discusses federal statutory provisions contained in the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act and briefly examines pertinent Supreme Court precedent. Then, based on that legal framework, it provides an overview of several recent challenges to state election laws in Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas that resulted in major decisions by the variou… more
Date: November 2, 2016
Creator: Whitaker, L. Paige
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Intelligence Spending: In Brief

Description: This report examines intelligence funding over the past several decades, with an emphasis on the period from 2007-2016--the period in which total national and military intelligence program spending dollars have been publicly disclosed on an annual basis.
Date: February 16, 2016
Creator: Daugherty Miles, Anne
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Good Cause Exception to Notice and Comment Rulemaking: Judicial Review of Agency Action

Description: This report will examine judicial analysis of the good cause standard and map several factors that lead courts to uphold or reject agencies' invocation of the exception. Federal agencies issue numerous rules pursuant to congressionally delegated authority. The Administrative Procedure Act's (APA's) "good cause" exception, however, permits agencies to forgo Section 553's notice and comment requirement if "the agency for good cause finds" that compliance would be "impracticable, unnecessary, or c… more
Date: January 29, 2016
Creator: Cole, Jared P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy

Description: This report provides an examination of family-based immigration policy. It outlines a brief history of U.S. policies, discusses current law governing admissions, and summarizes recommendations made by previous congressionally-mandated committees charged with evaluating immigration policy. It then presents descriptive figures on legal immigrants entering the United States during the past decade and discusses the sizable queue of approved immigrant petitioners waiting for an immigrant visa. It cl… more
Date: February 17, 2016
Creator: Kandel, William A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Body Armor for Law Enforcement Officers: In Brief

Description: This report contains an overview of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Initiative (BPV program). It also provides a discussion of data on law enforcement agencies that require their officers to wear armor vests while on duty, research on why officers may choose to wear armor vests, research on the life cycle for armor vests, data on the use of body armor by law enforcement officers who were killed with a firearm, and research on the effectiveness of armor vests.
Date: January 28, 2016
Creator: James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Lifeline Program: Frequently Asked Questions

Description: This report discusses the Federal Lifeline Program established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1985. The program was originally designed to assist eligible low-income households to subsidize the monthly service charges incurred for voice telephone usage and was limited to one fixed line per household.
Date: May 2, 2016
Creator: Gilroy, Angele A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Buy American Act--Preferences for "Domestic" Supplies: In Brief

Description: This report discusses the Buy American Act of 1933, which is the earliest and arguably the best known of various statutes regarding federal procurement of domestic products. The act attempts to protect U.S. businesses and labor by restricting the acquisition and use of end products or construction materials that are not "domestic."
Date: April 26, 2016
Creator: Manuel, Kate M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Justice Antonin Scalia's Last Opinion

Description: This report discusses Justice Antonin Scalia's last opinion for the court (Kansas v. Carr). There, the Court reversed two decisions of the Kansas Supreme Court and held that "the Eighth Amendment [does not] require... capital-sentencing courts to instruct the jury that mitigating circumstances need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt." It also held that the Eighth Amendment did not require separate trials for two of the defendants in one of the Kansas cases.
Date: March 15, 2016
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Treatment of Noncitizens Under the Affordable Care Act

Description: This report provides information regarding the treatment of noncitizens under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) including definitions of "lawfully present," the health insurance mandate, exchanges, and ACA changes to Medicaid. It also discusses the verification of alien status under the ACA and related legislation in the 113th Congress.
Date: October 27, 2016
Creator: Siskin, Alison
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Post-Heller Second Amendment Jurisprudence

Description: This report examines the scope of the Second Amendment, as interpreted by the federal circuit courts of appeals, after the watershed Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago.
Date: September 7, 2016
Creator: Herman, Sarah S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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