LAWS, NOMINATIONS AND LEGAL ISSUES -- LAWS, NOMINATIONS AND LEGAL ISSUES -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- SHARING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION: THE CONGRESSIONAL ROLE -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- THE LEGACY OF FISA -- RECOGNIZING THE NEED TO SHARE INFORMATION -- INITIAL EFFORTS TO LEGISLATE -- AFTER 9/11, CONGRESS TEARS DOWN THE WALL -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- CRIMINALIZING UNLAWFUL PRESENCE: SELECTED ISSUES -- ABSTRACT -- PROPOSALS TO CRIMINALIZE UNLAWFUL PRESENCE -- SELECTED ISSUES -- REFERENCES -- FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES: BACKGROUND, LEGAL ANALYSIS, AND POLICY OPTIONS -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- SUPREME COURT CASES -- United States v. Booker -- PENAL POLICY -- Indeterminate Sentencing -- Determinate Sentencing -- THE SENTENCING REFORM ACT OF 1984 -- SENTENCING GUIDELINES -- Departures from the Guidelines -- POSSIBLE POLICY CONSIDERATION -- REFERENCES -- ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL ACT (ACCA): USING PRIOR JUVENILE ADJUDICATIONS FOR SENTENCE ENHANCEMENTS -- ABSTRACT -- PRIOR CONVICTION EXCEPTION UNDER ALMENDAREZ-TORRES -- TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF THE PRIOR CONVICTION EXCEPTION AS APPLIED TO PRIOR JUVENILE ADJUDICATIONS -- REFERENCES -- SPEED OF PRESIDENTIAL AND SENATE ACTIONS ON SUPREME COURT NOMINATIONS, 1900-2009 -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- RECENT NOMINATIONS ACTIVITY -- The Souter Departure Announcement and the Sotomayor Nomination Announcement -- Activity during 2005-2006 -- The Roberts Nomination -- The Miers Nomination -- The Auito Nomination -- MEASURING THE PACE OF SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS -- Official and Unofficial Timetables -- Objectives of This Chapter -- HOW SUPREME COURT VACANCIES OCCUR -- Death of a Sitting Justice -- Retirement or Resignation of a Sitting Justice -- Nomination of a Sitting Justice to Another Position -- Controversial, Withdrawn, and Rejected Nominations -- DATA PRESENTATION.

Date of Actual or Prospective Vacancy -- Announcement-of-Nominee Date -- Use of Medians to Summarize Intervals -- The Duration of the Nomination-and-Confirmation Process -- Changes Since 1981 -- Factors Influencing the Speed of the Process -- How the Vacancy Occurs -- The Senate's Schedule -- Committee Involvement and Institutional Customs -- Controversial Nominations -- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS -- Implications for the Sotomayor Nomination -- REFERENCES -- SUPREME COURT NOMINATIONS, 1789 - 2009: ACTIONS BY THE SENATE, THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, AND THE PRESIDENT -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- DESCRIPTION OF REPORT'S CONTENTS -- FINDINGS FROM THE NOMINATIONS TABLE -- Number of Nominations and Nominees -- Presidents Who Made the Nominations -- Date That Nominations Were Received in Senate -- Referral of Nominations to Senate Judiciary Committee -- Nominations That Received Public Confirmation Hearings -- Advent of Public Hearings -- Length of Hearings in Days -- Nominations Reported Out of Committee to Full Senate -- Reporting -- Reporting with a Favorable Recommendation -- Reporting Without Recommendation -- Reporting with an Unfavorable Recommendation -- Nominations Not Reported Out of Committee -- Final Action by the Senate or the President -- Days from Date of Senate Receipt of Nomination to First Hearing -- Days from Senate Receipt to Final Committee Vote -- Days from Senate Receipt to Final Senate or Presidential Action -- Recess Appointments to the Supreme Court -- CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENT -- REFERENCES -- SUPREME COURT NOMINATIONS: SENATE FLOOR PROCEDURE AND PRACTICE, 1789-2009* -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- HISTORICAL TRENDS IN FLOOR CONSIDERATION -- Beginning Patterns, 1789-1834 -- The Original Court, 1789 -- John Crittenden, 1828 -- Committee Referral, 1835-1867 -- Robert C. Grier, 1846 -- Tyler Presidency, 1844-1845.

Increased Formalization, 1868-1922 -- William B. Woods, 1880 -- George E. Badger, 1853 -- Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, 1869 -- The Calendar Call Becomes Formalized, 1922-1967 -- William O. Douglas, 1939 -- Unanimous Consent Agreements, 1968 to present -- William H. Rehnquist, 1971 -- CHARACTERISTICS OF FLOOR ACTION -- Forms of Disposition -- Varieties of Disposition -- Nominations Confirmed -- Nominations Rejected -- Nominations without Final Vote -- No Floor Action -- Floor Action without Final Vote -- Dispositions and the Extent of Opposition -- Length of Floor Action -- Days of Floor Action -- Extended Consideration and Opposition -- Procedural Complexity -- Optional Procedural Actions -- Calling Up Nominations -- Proceedings in the Course of Floor Action -- 1789-1835 -- 1835-1845 -- 1845-1890 -- 1890-1967 -- 1968-Present -- Procedural Complexity and Opposition -- Relation Among Characteristics of Proceedings -- APPENDIX. SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF SENATE ACTION ON SUPREME COURT NOMINATIONS -- Selected Characteristics of Floor Proceedings -- Selected Characteristics of Committee Action -- REFERENCES -- NOMINATIONS TO ARTICLE III LOWER COURTS BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH DURING THE 110TH CONGRESS -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- The Article III Lower Courts -- Judicial Nomination Data Tracked -- JUDICIAL NOMINATION TABLES FOR THE 110TH CONGRESS -- APPENDIX I THE APPOINTMENT PROCESS FOR NOMINATIONS TO ARTICLE III JUDGESHIPS -- REFERENCES -- THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ACT: AN OVERVIEW -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND -- ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS TRIGGERING APPLICATION OF THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ACT (WPA) -- Covered Employees -- Protected Disclosures -- Personnel Actions -- Nexus between a Protected Disclosure and a Personnel Action -- Other Protected Activities -- FORUMS WHERE WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS MAY BE RAISED -- "Chapter 77" Appeals.

Actions by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) -- Individual Right of Action (IRA) -- Negotiated Grievance Procedures -- SUMMARY OF THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007 (H.R. 985, 110TH CONGRESS) -- REFERENCES -- ENFORCING IMMIGRATION LAW: THE ROLE OF STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- BACKGROUND -- Criminal Alien Program [2] -- National Fugitive Operations and Absconder Apprehension Initiatives -- CURRENT PRACTICES -- AUTHORITIES TO ENFORCE IMMIGRATION LAW -- STATE INVOLVEMENT IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF IMMIGRATION LAW -- Office of Legal Counsel Opinions -- Case Law -- Express Authorization for State and Local Law Enforcement Officers to Enforce Immigration Law -- 8 U.S.C. 1357(g) -- 8 U.S.C. 1103 (a) (8) -- 8 U.S.C. 1252c -- 8 U.S.C. 1324(c) -- CURRENT EFFORTS [69] -- Florida's Memorandum of Understanding -- Background -- Training -- Complaint Procedures -- Program Evaluation -- Alabama's Memorandum of Understanding -- Background and Training -- Jail-Based MOAs -- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department MOA -- Arizona's MOA -- Complaint Procedures -- Commonalities in the MOAs -- Total Number of Law Enforcement Officers Trained -- SELECTED ISSUES -- State and Local Policies Regarding Immigration Enforcement -- Access to Database -- Civil Rights -- Detention Space -- PRO/CON ANALYSIS OF STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ENFORCING IMMIGRATION LAW -- Impact on Communities -- Resources -- National Security -- Training -- POSSIBLE POLICY APPROACHES -- Direct Access to Databases -- Funding for State Cooperation -- State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) [101] -- Criminalizing Civil Immigration Violations -- APPENDIX A. LIST OF LAW ENFORCEMENT ENTITIES PARTICIPATING IN 287(G) PROGRAM -- APPENDIX B. LEGISLATION IN THE 110TH CONGRESS -- APPENDIX C. LEGISLATION IN THE 109TH CONGRESS -- REFERENCES.

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE: HISTORY AND CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES -- ABSTRACT -- INTRODUCTION -- THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE -- Foundations of the Fairness Doctrine -- Enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine -- Red Lion Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. FCC -- Repeal by the FCC -- CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES -- Application of the Fairness Doctrine to Broadcast Licensees -- Standard of Scrutiny -- The Constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine as Applied to Broadcast Licensees -- Substantial Interest -- Narrow Tailoring -- Application of the Fairness Doctrine to Cable and Satellite Providers -- CONTINUING CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE -- 109th Congress -- H.R. 501, Fairness and Accountability in Broadcasting Act -- H.R. 3302, Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005 -- 110th Congress -- H.R. 2905, S. 1742, S. 1748, Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2007 -- H.R. 2829, Making appropriations for Financial Services and General Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes -- H.R. 2764, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, P.L. 110-161 -- 111th Congress -- H.R. 226, Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009 -- S. 34, S. 62 Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009 -- S. 160, District of Columbia Voting Rights Act of 2009 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by the Senate) -- REFERENCES -- UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA: LIVING RESOURCES PROVISIONS -- ABSTRACT -- LIVING RESOURCES PROVISIONS -- CONSERVATION AND EXPLOITATION -- STRADDLING AND TRANSBOUNDARY FISH STOCKS -- Highly Migratory Species -- Marine Mammals -- Sea Turtles -- Anadromous Stocks -- Catadromous Species -- Sedentary Species -- High Seas -- Access by Disadvantaged Nations -- Marine Habitat Protection -- DISPUTE SETTLEMENT FOR LIVING RESOURCES -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: ISSUES FOR CONGRESS -- ABSTRACT -- BACKGROUND -- Overview of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights [1].

The United States and U.N. Human Rights Efforts.