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

Description: This report briefly explores the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), which requires imposition of a minimum 15-year term of imprisonment for recidivists convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). Section 924(e) applies only to those defendants who have three prior state or federal convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses. The report includes descriptions of constitutional challenges to the application of section 924(e), which have been… more
Date: October 13, 2010
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Proposed U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement: Labor Issues

Description: This report examines three labor issues and arguments related to the pending U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (CFTA; H.R. 5724 and S. 2830): violence against trade unionists; impunity (accountability for or punishment of the perpetrators); and worker rights protections for Colombians.
Date: October 5, 2010
Creator: Bolle, Mary Jane
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources, by Topic

Description: This report provides references to analytical reports on cybersecurity from CRS, other government agencies, trade associations, and interest groups. The reports and related websites are grouped under the following cybersecurity topics: policy overview; National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC); cloud computing and FedRAMP; critical infrastructure; cybercrime, data breaches and data security; national security, cyber espionage, and cyberwar (including Stuxnet); international… more
Date: October 14, 2014
Creator: Tehan, Rita
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Aiding, Abetting, and the Like: An Overview of 18 U.S.C. 2

Description: This report discuses the issues that virtually every federal criminal statute has a hidden feature; helpers and hands-on offenders face the same punishment. This results from 18 U.S.C. 2, which visits the same consequences on anyone who orders or assists in the commission of a federal crime.
Date: October 24, 2014
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Cybercrime: A Sketch of 18 U.S.C. 1030 and Related Federal Criminal Laws

Description: This report discusses the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. 1030, which is a cyber security law that outlaws conduct that victimizes computer systems. It protects federal computers, bank computers, and computers connected to the Internet by shielding them from trespassing, threats, damage, espionage, and from being corruptly used as instruments of fraud.
Date: October 15, 2014
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federal Lands and Natural Resources: Overview and Selected Issues for the 113th Congress

Description: This report provides references to analytical reports on cybersecurity from CRS, other government agencies, trade associations, and interest groups. The reports and related websites are grouped under the following cybersecurity topics: policy overview; National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC); cloud computing and FedRAMP; critical infrastructure; cybercrime, data breaches and data security; national security, cyber espionage, and cyberwar (including Stuxnet); international… more
Date: October 14, 2014
Creator: Tehan, Rita
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Sexual Violence at Institutions of Higher Education

Description: Currently, there are two federal laws that address sexual violence on college campuses: the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act, P.L. 101-542) and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX, P.L. 92-318). Following a discussion exploring the prevalence of sexual violence at IHEs, this report provides a detailed policy and legal analysis of these two statutes, as well as a brief description of a third statute related to educati… more
Date: October 23, 2014
Creator: McCallion, Gail & Feder, Jody
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Police Use of Force: Rules, Remedies, and Reforms

Description: This report addresses three overarching questions to provide legal context for the debate concerning the appropriate level of force police officers should wield: (1) what are the constitutional rules governing an officer's use of force; (2) what role has Congress played in providing a remedy for a violation of these rules; and (3) what are the potential reforms to these rules and remedies?
Date: October 30, 2015
Creator: Thompson, Richard M., II
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Crime Victims Fund: Federal Support for Victims of Crime

Description: This report provides background and funding information for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) programs and the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). It describes the process through which CVF funds are allocated and explains how the CVF impacts the annual budget for DOJ. It then provides an analysis of selected issues that Congress may consider regarding the CVF and the federal budget.
Date: October 27, 2015
Creator: Sacco, Lisa N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Sentencing Reform: Comparison of Selected Proposals

Description: This report is a comparison of selected criminal sentencing reform bills as introduced: H.R. 3713, H.R. 2944, S. 502, and H.R. 920; and S. 2123 as passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee with a manager's amendment).
Date: October 26, 2015
Creator: Cole, Jared P. & Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Risk and Needs Assessment in the Criminal Justice System

Description: This report provides information on the use of risk and needs assessment in the criminal justice system. It starts with an overview of risk and needs assessment and a discussion of some of the critiques of it. The report concludes with a discussion of the issues policymakers might consider if they debate legislation to expand the use of risk and needs assessment in the federal prison system.
Date: October 13, 2015
Creator: James, Nathan
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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Sentence Reform Acts: S.2123 and H.R. 3713

Description: This report discusses the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, S. 2123, and the Sentencing Reform Act of 2015, H.R. 3713, use virtually identical language to reduce the impact of the mandatory minimum sentences which federal courts must now impose for certain drug trafficking and firearms offenses.
Date: October 14, 2015
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA): Background and Funding

Description: This report provides an overview of the federal response to domestic violence--defined broadly to include acts of physical and nonphysical violence against spouses and other intimate partners--through the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA).
Date: October 14, 2015
Creator: Fernandes-Alcantara, Adrienne L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Backlog of Sexual Assault Evidence: In Brief

Description: This report provides background on the sexual assault kit (SAKs, also referred to as "rape kits") backlog and information on federal efforts to reduce it. The backlog of SAKs has raised concerns over justice for assault victims and that additional victimizations could have been prevented had the evidence from any given kit been tested and the perpetrator apprehended in a timely manner.
Date: October 19, 2015
Creator: Sacco, Lisa N. & James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Is This the First Step in Undoing Mass Incarceration? 6,000 Federal Drug Offenders Set to be Released

Description: In early November, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is scheduled to release approximately 6,000 federal inmates convicted of drug trafficking offenses. This report briefly examines the background of this release and its potential effects.
Date: October 22, 2015
Creator: James, Nathan & Yeh, Brian T.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Aiding, Abetting, and the Like: An Abbreviated Overview of 18 U.S.C. 2

Description: This report discuses the issues that virtually every federal criminal statute has a hidden feature; helpers and hands-on offenders face the same punishment. This results from 18 U.S.C. 2, which visits the same consequences on anyone who orders or assists in the commission of a federal crime.
Date: October 24, 2014
Creator: Doyle, Charles
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriations for the Department of Justice

Description: This report discusses proposed appropriations for the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the 2018 fiscal year divided into each department of the DOJ. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31) appropriated $28.962 billion for DOJ while President Trump's proposed 2018 budget requests $28.205 billion for DOJ which amounts to 2.6% less than the FY2017-enacted appropriation.
Date: October 12, 2017
Creator: James, Nathan
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Do Courts Have Inherent Authority to Release Secret Grand Jury Materials?

Description: 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.
Date: October 5, 2018
Creator: Foster, Michael A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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