This report discusses whether the U.S. airstrike on a Syrian airbase in retaliation for Syria's use of chemical weapons was legal under international laws as outlined in the U.N. Charter.

This report discusses the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court Justice and the effects he may have on current and upcoming cases as the ninth member of the Supreme Court.

This report discusses a case which was brought by Army Captain Nathan Smith against President Barack Obama in 2016, arguing that President Obama had no authority to be conducting the campaign against the Islamic State because no Congressional approval had been given. The case was dismissed in Nov. 2016 but he has appealed the dismissal of the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

This report discusses rules governing acceptance of gifts by government employees and how social media and the concept of being "friends" on a social media network effect the personal friendship clause of the gift ethics rules.

This report discusses countervaling duties which are charged on items entering the U.S. whose makers are supported by government subsidies in their country. Part 1 provides a general background on countervailing duties and the procedures that result in the imposition of these types of duties. Part II explores the Canadian softwood lumber dispute in more detail, providing a history of this thirty-year dispute and details about the status of the current countervailing duty investigation.

This report discusses Executive Order (EO) 13783 issued by President Trump which directs government agencies to "review, revise, or rescind" climate change related policies and regulations that "unduly burden domestic energy production or use." It also considers legal considerations and possible effects of the order.

This report first explains how, under current bankruptcy law, Chapter 9 (municipalities) debtors have significant freedom to modify their outstanding pension obligations through the bankruptcy process. The report then explores proposals to alter the legal principles governing the adjustment of municipal pensions in bankruptcy.

This report discusses "tort reform" which refers to whether (and to what extent) legislatures should limit lawsuits concerning negligence, personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability, and other similar causes of action. The report surveys several major tort and litigation reform bills pending in the 115th Congress and discusses some of the legal issues raised by each bill.

This report discusses the President's legal authority to send the National Guard or regular military forces to secure the U.S. border with Mexico and examines the statutes and precedent related to such uses of Presidential authority.

This report discusses the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit's decision in the case of "U.S. v. McCollum" which stated that conspiracy to murder was not a violent crime for federal sentencing purposes and discusses the background of the case and the prior case law which led to the decision.

This report is an update of an earlier report discussing the Supreme Court case of "Jesner v. Arab Bank" which reports the final decision that foreign corporations such as Arab Bank may not be brought as defendants in lawsuits under the Alien Tort Statute.

This report discusses a federal district court's decision to halt a new Mississippi law that banned abortions after 15 weeks unless the the life of the mother was in danger.

This report discusses the Supreme Court case of "Hughes v. United States" where all five justices agreed on the party that should win but they could not agree on why that party should win. The report discusses what justice's opinion, if any should enter future law through case law precedent, similar past cases, and the background of the "Hughes" case.

This report discusses the U.S. District for the Southern District of California's recent decision in a case brought by the State of California against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding DHS's right to waive environmental and other administrative laws for border fence building projects. The court agreed with other court rulings on the issue and affirmed DHS's right to waive the laws.

This report discusses the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of "Jennings vs. Rodriguez" which dealt with whether immigrant aliens could be detained indefinitely. The court ruled that the aliens could be held indefinitely without a bond hearing under statutory law but left the constitutionality of the action open for future interpretation.

This report is an update of an earlier report regarding the "travel ban" litigation going through the courts and includes President Trump's April 10th,2018, executive order lifting travel restrictions on nationals of Chad.

This report discusses a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in the case of "United States v. Grant" that prohibits the use of "de facto" life sentences without possibility of parole (created by sentencing juveniles to prison terms longer than the average lifespan or that would end after they reached the typical retirement age) for juvenile offenders who have a reasonable potential for rehabilitation. The report also discusses previous decisions related to this issue and the split among appeals court over the proper application of the Eighth Amendment to juvenile sentencing restrictions.

This report discusses the Supreme Court case of "Benisek v. Lamone" which involves a challenge to a Maryland congressional district map on the basis that it was drawn as a part of partisan gerrymandering. Previous Supreme Court cases involving gerrymandering and background on this case is included.

This report discusses the Commerce Department's announcement that the 2020 U.S. census will include a citizenship question and various lawsuits filed in an effort to stop the question being included.