This recent article in JAMA is the result of systematic literature reviews. Find out what the results are.
Archive for June, 2022
Documents in the News: The Supreme Court’s Decision Regarding Using School Vouchers for Religious Schools
In what some see as a blow to the separation of church and state, the Supreme Court, in Carson v Makin, has decided that the use of school vouchers for enrollment in religious schools is constitutional. Extensive coverage, including proceedings and orders, is provided by SCOTUSblog as well as an analysis.
Online Primary Sources for American History: The Watergate Trial
For the first time, the records/exhibitions of the Watergate Trial are being released digitally. Multiple volumes and hundreds of pieces of evidence are available.
Legal Fact Checking
The ABA publishes the Legal Fact Check that examines controversial topics by examining historic documents as well as recent reports/research; links are provided to additional resources of value. Though brief, these fact checks can prove to be very useful in reviewing current legal issues.
State Gun Control Laws
For a listing of gun control laws by state, please consult this site.
Gun Control Laws from Around the World
The Law Library of Congress has over 250 accessible reports on gun control policies from foreign countries. These documents were generated in response to Congressional requests for information; however, it must be pointed out that most of these reports have not been updated in recent years. But they do provide contextual information on this devisive topic.
This recent CFR Backgrounder compares the United States’ laws/policies with six other nations.
Where to Watch the January 6 Hearings
All the hearings, along with transcripts, are provided courtesy of C-SPAN. Another bonus of watching these proceedinsg from here is that the site also provides “points of interest” highlighting significant events in these hearings.
Documents in the News: DHS Issues Extremist Violence Advisory
With so many potential flashpoints looming up in the following months, Homeland Security has released its latest bulletin highlighting the risks for domestic violence. This briefing provides additional information justifying this warning and showcases what the DHS is doing to counter these threats from both domestic and international players.
A Must-Read for the Upcoming January 6 Congressional Inquiry
Trump on Trial: A Guide to the January 6 Committee Hearings and the Question of Criminality is a guide to the proceedings, the important players, the Committee’s work, and to the multi-layered attempts by individuals to subvert the constitutional workings of the government.
“The issue of criminality is central to the congressional hearings commencing on June 9, 2022,
convened by the House of Representatives’ Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th
Attack on the United States Capitol. Pending the Committee’s own interim or final reports, this
publication serves as a guide to the hearings and the evidence the Committee and prosecutors
may adduce as to whether Trump and his circle committed crimes. The report covers key players
in the attempt to overturn the election, the known facts regarding their conduct, and the criminal
law applicable to their actions.” (6)
Documents in the News: New York State’s Newest Gun Control Laws
There are ten of them just signed by Governor Hochul. Here is a listing, along with brief summaries, of the new laws; the full text of each law can found here (search by bill number).
Online Primary Sources: Early Accounts of D-Day
You can read dozens of articles from a wide variety of newspapers; you can listen to radio broadcasts here. And don’t forget the newsreels, and interviews with D-Day veterans.
2022 NJCU Graduation Photos/Videos
Here they are courtesy of nj.com. A video of the 11am ceremony is here, while the 3pm gathering is here.
Online Alternative Press
“Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.”
There are almost 20,000 issues here.
Documents in the News: Reparations to Descendants of Enslaved People
The California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans has issued its interim report with these underlying goals:
So thoroughly have the effects of slavery infected every aspect of American society over the last 400 years, that it is nearly impossible to identify every “badge and incident of slavery,” to include every piece of evidence, or describe every harm done to African Americans. In order to address this practical reality, this interim report of the Reparations Task Force describes a sample of government actions and the compounding harms that have resulted, organized into 12 specific areas of systemic discrimination. (13)
This document details both on the national and California levels the pervasiveness of discrimination as enshrined in laws and policies meant to prevent African Americans from achieving success and freedom in the country they built and contributed to.
The executive summary distills the almost 500 hundred pages of text, graphs, and notes into a more manageable read; page 27 presents preliminary recommendations.
Documents in the News: “Protecting Our Kids Act”
In light of the recent spate of mass shootings, the Protecting Our Kids Act has been introduced in Congress. Among other items, this bill calls for an increased age limit on the purchase of certain firearms, the prevention of gun trafficking, modernizing the prohibition on untraceable firearms, and encouraging the safe storage of firearms. The House Committee on the Judiciary will have hearings commencing on June 2.
National Security Reports – May 2022 Update
Executive Order on Enhancing the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (The White House); National Security Memorandum on Promoting United States Leadership in Quantum Computing While Mitigating Risks to Vulnerable Cryptographic Systems (The White House); SIPRI Databases; Capital Attack – Federal Agencies’ Use of Open Source Data and Related Threat Products Prior to January 6, 2021(GAO); Digital Investigation Techniques: A NIST Scientific Foundation Review (draft); Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies; and Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Implications for Global Food Prices and Food Security; U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine; The State Secrets Privilege: National Security Information in Civil Litigation; Russia’s War in Ukraine: Military and Intelligence Aspects; Al Qaeda: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy; U.S. Ground Forces in the Indo-Pacific: Background and Issues for Congress; U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress (updated May 11, 2022); Supply Disruptions and the U.S. Economy; and “Hacktivists” and the Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Legal Considerations (all CRS)
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 