This legal sidebar briefly provides an overview of the major implications of Justice Scalia's death for Congress. Justice Scalia's absence may alter the outcome of several cases of interest to Congress pending before the Court and could mark a seismic shift in many legal doctrines, depending on who is confirmed to fill the newly vacant seat on the Court. The job of confirming the President's nomination to fill the vacancy resides with the Senate, making Justice Scalia's death likely to have a profound impact in both the short and long term on Congress.

This legal sidebar discusses a federal district court's decision to deny the State of Texas's request that the federal government and a private refugee relief organization be temporarily barred from resettling Syrian refugees within the state pending resolution of Texas's challenge to such resettlement.

This report provides data regarding the direct overt U.S. aid appropriations and military reimbursements to Pakistan.

This report discusses President Trump's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and deliberation by Senators as part of the initial phases of determining whether to provide "Advice and Consent" to the nomination.

This report discusses laws that govern the legality or possible repercussions of leaking government information of various types to the press.

This report provides a description of Executive Order (EO) 13768 "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States" issued on January 25, 2017 by President Trump. It highlights, in particular, potential questions about how the EO could be construed in regard to "sanctuary cities" and briefly discusses the claims made by those jurisdictions challenging the EO.

This report discusses the rule of qualified immunity for police officers, which prevents officers from being sued for actions taken in the course of their job unless there was a clear decision by the officer to break the law or incompetence. It specifically discusses the case of "White v. Pauly" heard by the Supreme Court, which upheld qualified immunity for Officer White after he was accused of violating a suspect's fourth amendment rights by use of excessive force to seize the suspect who had been fatally shot during the incident.

This report provides brief answers to some of the questions regarding immigration agents' authority to apprehend and remove aliens; these questions were raised by reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted enforcement actions in at least six states during the week of February 6, 2017.

This report discusses Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination for the Supreme Court and provides a brief overview of his background and potential influence on the Supreme Court.

This report outlines significant cases on which Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch had voted while on the Tenth Circuit court, organized by topical categories. These categories represent fields of law where Judge Gorsuch could, if confirmed, influence the High Court's approach.

This report is part 1 of two of a report discussing the upcoming Supreme Court case of "Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31."

This report discusses the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and its authority to allow the government to undertake electronic surveillance programs of people suspected of engaging in foreign intelligence activity along with recent debate regarding the issue.

This report discusses legal implications of the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 which was passed by the House in December 2017.

This report is part 1 of two of a report discussing the upcoming Supreme Court case of "Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31.

This report discusses the upcoming Supreme Court case of "United States vs. Microsoft" which concerns whether the government can compel Microsoft to provide them emails stored abroad. This report provides background on the case, including an overview of the Stored Communications Act (SCA), discusses the specific issues presented by the Microsoft case, and explores the case's implications for Congress.

This report is part one of two and discusses patent venue jurisprudence, including the "TC Heartland" opinion, and the impact of the decision on the patent litigation system generally.

This report discusses the decision of the D.C. Circuit Appeals Court which upheld the structural design of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This report is Part II of a two part series and will address some of the separate opinions issued in the case and then highlight certain implications for Congress.

This report is part two of two and discusses other implications of the "TC Heartland" decision, including two notable recent decisions in the Federal Circuit interpreting the decision, "In re Cray" and "In re Micron Technology, Inc.," as well as other potential issues raised by TC Heartland and options for Congress.

This report discusses criminal charges related to disclosing the identities of undercover intelligence agents and covert assets.

This report discusses Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 which was added too the law in 1996 to provide liability protection to online service providers regarding what users posted on their sites. Concerns about criminal activity being allowed to continue by companies due to the law and internet freedom advocates support for the law are discussed.

This report discusses the indictment of three Russian companies and 13 Russian national by the Department of Justice for interference in the 2016 presidential election. The charges brought for each one are detailed along with the sentencing guidelines for the crimes.

This report discusses the question of whether "Dreamers" who were given a pathway to citizenship and became naturalized citizens could sponsor their parents for immigration visas in the same way any other U.S. citizen could. Case law and various considerations which could affect such a decision are discussed.

This report discusses new proposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports and the Commerce Department report behind the new tariff proposals.

This report discusses of whether a federal statute which requires victim reimbursement for "other expenses incurred during participation in the investigation or prosecution of the [victimizing] offense" cover "costs that were neither required nor requested by the government, including costs incurred for the victim's own purposes and unprompted by any official action? An upcoming Supreme Court case ("Lagos v. United States") is set to consider this question.