…Why the government can conduct the Census

Arguments against answering the census questions are everywhere…the web, talk radio, maybe even people you know.  Claims that the census is unconstitutional, the questions are illegal, or that the federal government is subverting the Constitution.  Is this crazy talk?

United States Constitution

First and foremost, the census is required by Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States of America.  

"The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct."

National Archives text and scanned image of the 1787 Constitution of the United States  (ratified in July 1788).

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Before there was a Constitution there were the Federalist Papers

The Constitution was drafted in 1787 during a Federal Convention.  The Federalist Papers were a series of articles published following the Federal Convention.  The purpose was to encourage ratification of the new Constitution.  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote the essays under the pseudonym of “Publius.” Scholars study the Federalist Papers to help understand the original intent behind the first Constitution.  The need for a census was discussed twice in the Federalist Papers.

“Within three years a census is to be taken, when the number may be augmented to one for every thirty thousand inhabitants; and within every successive period of ten years the census is to be renewed, and augmentations may continue to be made under the above limitation. It will not be thought an extravagant conjecture that the first census will, at the rate of one for every thirty thousand, raise the number of representatives to at least one hundred.”

Source: The Federalist No. 55, The Total Number of the House of Representatives, From the New York Packet. Friday, February 15, 1788.

This next Federalist article discusses using the population count to determine the number of representatives (for the House of Representatives) and to determine taxes.

“In one respect, the establishment of a common measure for representation and taxation will have a very salutary effect. As the accuracy of the census to be obtained by the Congress will necessarily depend, in a considerable degree on the disposition, if not on the co-operation, of the States, it is of great importance that the States should feel as little bias as possible, to swell or to reduce the amount of their numbers. Were their share of representation alone to be governed by this rule, they would have an interest in exaggerating their inhabitants. Were the rule to decide their share of taxation alone, a contrary temptation would prevail. By extending the rule to both objects, the States will have opposite interests, which will control and balance each other, and produce the requisite impartiality.”

Source: The Federalist No. 54, The Apportionment of Members Among the States, From the New York Packet. Tuesday, February 12, 1788.

A nicer version of the Federalist Papers is here in HTML.  Project Gutenberg Federalist papers original scan to text here and the text of the papers are here.  The Library of Congress version is here.

More on the apportionment issue is found here.

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Statutes- "…in such Manner as they shall by Law direct."

Those who only look to the United States Constitution for information about the Census are forgetting something.  The Constitution does not directly authorize the- who, what, when or how-  details for conducting a federal census.  Every ten years authorization legislation had to be enacted laying out the instructions to the census takers and the required data to be collected.  This legislation also authorized appropriations to cover the cost of the census. The details come from the statutes.  Early census authorization legislation from 1789 to 1820 can be found here.

For a good legal history of the United States Census from 1776, starting on page 29 of The Garfield Report to Congress from the Committee on the Ninth Census, published in 1870.

Some Interesting Facts About the Census
First Census- 1790
“For the nation's first census 650 federal marshals go house-to-house unannounced, writing down the name of the head of the household and counting the other residents. The census costs $45,000, takes 18 months and counts 3.9 million people.”  Source.

Even the first census asked more than just numbers of persons.  Names of Heads of Families was part of the census and lists the name of each head of household and the number of persons in the household.  Here are the scanned images for the first census of 1790 with the names listed.   

Was it accurate?

It seems that accuracy was a problem back in 1790 as it is today.  “Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson expressed skepticism over the final count, expecting a number that exceeded the 3.9 million inhabitants counted in the census.”  Source: here and here.  

What about Ohio?

The First Census conducted in 1790 only included 15 states and territories.  The Census for Ohio was first conducted in 1800.  Estimated population in Ohio in 1800 was 45,000, 1.1 person per square mile of land. 

Why did the census expand to include so many questions?

It started out just tallying total population counts for determining the number of representatives and taxes, but with every census more questions were added on a variety of topics.  This is what some people take issue with today.  Why is the government so nosey? 

In 1800 (ten years after the first census of 1790), two “learned societies” petitioned Congress to use the census to collect facts highly important to society with regards to prosperity and progress of the country.  These scientific societies suggested that to determine the effect of soil and climate on the life span of the inhabitants, the census should collect vital statistics (duration of life), more detailed age interval data, occupations, emigration, and immigration.   All this was for the interest of science and to help this “young and flourishing republic to become acquainted with its own natural history.”  These suggestions were not implemented for the 1800 census but did get put in place for the 1810 census.   Source.

 “Expansion of the census began in 1810, when enumerators also asked questions related to the industrial pursuits of the nation's inhabitants. In 1850, the census began collecting "social statistics" (information about taxes, education, crime, illiteracy, and value of estate, etc.) and mortality data.  Also, the name of every person in the household was recorded.  Subsequent censuses gathered more detailed data on race and ancestry, health, housing, and transportation.”  Statistics were collected through the years for mining, farming, industry, housing, railroads, and much more as our country grew.   Source.

Go here for a list of questions asked for each census.

What did the government do with all this information?

The data collected and tabulated has proved invaluable for anyone needing statistics.  The Heads of Households and names listed in the census is used extensively by those tracing their family tree.

The early census publications began with a report either in the introduction to the census or separate section called “Progress of the Nation.”  These reports summarized the results of the census compared to the previous census and would focus on what was important to our new nation during that period of rapid growth and development.   

The early census reports looked at population density, education, and the territorial extent of the United States.    

1860 Census introductory report focused on dwellings, the number of dwellings, the size of the dwellings and the number of people per dwelling.  Why was this looked at in the 1860 census? Here is what the report said, “It has been truly observed that the general prosperity and social relations of a people are very differently affected by narrow and crowded homes, or by spacious and convenient residences.”

1870 Census report focused on how the emancipation affected representative population and the resulting apportionment of Representatives in Congress. No longer will two-fifths of the slaves be excluded from the representative population.  “The joint result of the changes in the constitutional population of the several States, and the emancipation of the slave population in the fifteen Southern States, is to increase the representative population of the Union to 38,115,641…being a gain of 28.99 percent.”  The population table for the ninth census was labeled “Table of True Population” acknowledging the addition of the emancipated people.

1880 Progress of the Nation Census report covers from 1790 to 1880.  In ten year increments, it looks at population density changes, industry development, mining, farming, and includes maps.  It is interesting to read about “belts of settlements,” the effects of the railroads, and the ever moving “frontier line.” 

1890 Progress of the Nation focused on immigration, the excess of males to females phenomena of that time, school attendance, illiteracy, the ability to speak English, and for the first time, veterans (of the Civil War) were separately counted.  

From 1900 until today, the introductory materials were more typical summaries and not very unique. For the remaining Census Reports go here.

More about the history of the Census is found here.

The income tax is voluntary.

There’s just no law requiring you to pay federal income taxes.

The Internal Revenue Code is not law.

The federal government can’t tax “free sovereign citizens.”

Have you heard these statements before?  Maybe you have received e-mail or visited web sites making similar claims.  Tax protestors believe that they do not have to pay taxes based on their interpretation of the law.   They come across very authoritative.  If you are wondering if these tax tricks could be true, read on.

I am not an authority on tax laws so I will simply refer to the IRS web site to answer these arguments.  

Some of the top arguments given to avoid paying taxes:

1. Tax Protestor says – Filing a tax return is voluntary.  (I hear this argument all the time.) Variations: there is no law requiring individuals to pay federal income taxes.  The battle cry for this group is “show me the law.”
   IRS says – “The requirement to file an income tax return is not voluntary and is clearly set forth in sections 6011(a), 6012(a), et seq., and 6072(a). See also Treas. Reg. § 1.6011-1(a).”  For more information and a listing of court cases lost using these arguments go here.    See this law professor’s web page for a layman’s explanation of the IRS law.

 

2. Tax Protestor says – “Wages, tips, and other compensation received…” are not income. Variation of this theme: Only foreign-source income is taxable or only income of corporations is taxable.
   IRS says – “For federal income tax purposes, “gross income” means all income from whatever source derived and includes compensation for services. I.R.C. § 61. Any income, from whatever source, is presumed to be income under section 61.”  For more information and a list of cases go here.

 

3. Tax Protestor says – A taxpayer is not a “citizen” and is not subject to federal income tax laws.  Another version of this argument: only employees of the federal government are subject to federal income tax.  (I’ve heard this one before too.)
   IRS says – The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution defines the basis for United States citizenship, stating that “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The Fourteenth Amendment therefore establishes simultaneous state and federal citizenship.  More here with cases cited.

 

4. Tax Protestor says – “All federal income tax laws are unconstitutional because the Sixteenth amendment was not officially ratified, since the State of Ohio was not properly a state at the time of ratification.”  This category of arguments include other Constitutional arguments such as the violation the religious clauses of the First Amendment, violation of due process under the Fifth Amendment, and other issues dealing with the Thirteenth Amendment and the Sixteenth Amendments.  Conspiracy arguments sometimes fall under this category.
   IRS says –   The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified by forty states, including Ohio (which became a state in 1803), and issued by proclamation in 1913. Shortly thereafter, two other states also ratified the Amendment. Under Article V of the Constitution, only three‑fourths of the states are needed to ratify an Amendment. There were enough states ratifying the Sixteenth Amendment even without Ohio to complete the number needed for ratification.    More here.

 Of course, these arguments all failed in court.

“Like moths to a flame, some people find themselves irresistibly drawn to the tax protester movement’s illusory claim that there is no legal requirement to pay federal income tax.  And, like moths, these people sometimes get burned.”

Source: United States v. Sloan, 939 F.2d 499, 499-500 (7th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1060 (1992), reh’g denied, 503 U.S. 953 (1992).

For detailed counter arguments, see recently released IRS report called The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments.    The report sites case law, regulations and statutory law.  

Penalties Add Up

Pay attention to the penalties section here for those who attempt to make these frivolous arguments.  Posing the same arguments over and over even after the courts reject the arguments is categorized as filing frivolous claims.  Trying to use these frivolous claims against the IRS actually gets you harsher penalties.

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Tax Scams  

Internet-based thieves and schemers have contributed to the increase in tax scams.  The scam artists make out but the taxpayer faces fines, penalties and still owes their taxes (with interest).

“Don't fall victim to tax scams. Remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you think you're being scammed, you can report suspected tax fraud activity by sending completed Form 3949-A, Information Referral, to Internal Revenue Service, Fresno, CA 93888. You can download the form or call 1-800-829-3676 to order by mail.”  Source. 

Some of the common scams the IRS sees include:

• Phishing Scams, Frivolous Arguments (and identify theft) Top the 2008 “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams
• IRS Identifies 40 Frivolous Positions for Taxpayers to Avoid 
• Fraudulent Telephone Tax Refunds, Abusive Roth IRAs Top Off 2007 “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams 
• Employment Tax Schemes
• Misuse of "Corporation Sole" Laws for Religious Organizations 
• Offering to Help Obtain Tax Benefits — targets have included military families 
• Schemes involving Medical Professionals
• Schemes Promoting Use of Disabled Access Credit
• Home-Based Business Tax Avoidance Schemes
• Slavery Reparation Scams and court cases involving such scams

Related Items:

• Tax Return Errors and Frivolous Tax Arguments — an overview of IRS warnings and technical guidance on frivolous positions
• Criminal Investigation's Tax Fraud Alerts 
• Beacon Journal Tax Tips 2010
• Don’t get scammed at tax time
• Jon Siegel, Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School, Income Tax Protestors Page
• Daniel B. Evans, Attorney at Law, Tax Protester FAQ
• Tax Protesters Dossiers   – lists of tax protesters and summaries of their theories.

Income Tax Forms, free tax filing and other tax information on government web sites.

Everyone can now file their federal taxes online for free!  There are more options this year and no income limitations.

Federal Taxes- United States Internal Revenue Service

First, there is the traditional Free File that has step-be-step help.  This is available for those who made $57,000 or less in 2009.    At the Free File web page you will have two choices.  One button allows you to Choose a Free File Company yourself from a list and the second button helps you to Find a Free File Company by answering a few short questions.    

Second Option.  A new option this year allows anyone to file online for free.  There are no income limitations!  This includes 1040EZ, 1040 and 1040A and a variety of other tax forms. Click on the Choose Free File Fillable Forms button on this page.

The Free File program has partnered the IRS with the Free File Alliance LLC, a group of private sector tax software companies. 

Other IRS services and Help

At the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) web site you can also download tax forms, check on the status of your tax refund, get a copy of your submitted tax return, and pay your taxes online.  The IRS site provides lots of help and instructions for the forms and for individuals with tax questions.

Questions about federal taxes?  Contact your local IRS office in Ohio.

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State Taxes- Ohio Department of Taxation

Get copies of state tax forms, file income taxes online FREE (use I-File option; no special tax software is needed), and check on your refund, or use ePayment to pay taxes online. More services and information is available at the site.

Questions concerning your state taxes?  Contact the Ohio Department of Taxation.

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 City Taxes – City of Akron Income Tax Division

Free E-Filing online (no special tax software is needed), City Income Tax Forms, JEDD (Joint Economic Development Districts) Income Tax forms, and an estimate payment worksheet.  See the web page for more information.  For tax forms from other cities go here.

Questions? Contact the Akron Income Tax Division with questions about the forms or the JEDD forms. 

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Regional Income Tax Agency (R.I.T.A.)

R.I.T.A. is a non-profit agency that collects income tax for 157 municipalities in the State of Ohio.  Does this include your town? 

Municipalities in Summit that participates in R.I.T.A.:

• Boston Heights
• Hudson
• Lakemore
• Macedonia
• Mogadore
• New Franklin
• Reminderville
• Silver Lake
• Tallmadge
• Twinsburg

This site allows you to make a payment, register as a new RITA taxpayer, E-File the R.I.T.A. tax (FREE and no special tax software is needed), and more.  For a list of towns outside of Summit County that participate in R.I.T.A. go to this map and then click on your county for a list of towns and villages.

Questions about RITA tax collection, contact information can be found here.  

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For more information, see the Akron Beacon Journals Tax Tips for 2010.

The online edition of Cardozo Law Review de● novo has an entire issue devoted to the latest Second Amendment Supreme Court cases.  The title of this special issue is called Firearms, Inc. and it includes essays and articles on: 

• The legal and historical American right to bear arms.
• The right of self-preservation and resistance.
• The Second Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment and the Privileges or Immunities Clause.
• District of Columbia v. Heller case- “The 2008 Supreme Court case Heller v. District of Columbia ruled that Washington D.C. gun control laws that effectively banned the possession of handguns violated an individual’s Second Amendment right to self-defense.  After Heller, the federal government cannot prohibit the possession of handguns in the home.” 
• What about applying this to the states?  See upcoming McDonald v. City of Chicago Supreme Court case, oral argument schedule for March 2, 2010.   “McDonald argues that the right to bear arms is a fundamental right that states should not be able to infringe. Chicago argues that states should be able to tailor firearm regulation to local conditions.”  Several of the articles try to predict the outcome of the McDonald case. 

Here is the list of articles.  Click on the titles to read the essays.  All are written by experts and scholars.  Do you agree with them?

Here is an earlier posting I did on the Ohio Castle Doctrine: self-defense in the home.

There has been a swift response by Congress to the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court ruling on January 21.   Concerns focus on unregulated “big money” in politics leading to conflicts of interest and corruption.  Corporations, Unions and contractors can now directly fund advertising calling for the election or defeat of federal and state candidates.   Additionally there is much discussion of foreign owned corporations, and those with U.S. subsidiaries, influencing American elections. To understand the effects of the United Citizens decision, see Wilson Huhn’s post here.

A recent report by the Congressional Research Service advises Congress on ways it can respond to the decision.  Here are the options for Congress.

1.  Maintain the Status Quo by doing nothing.  This allows the court’s decision to stand. 

2.  Amend the United States Constitution to permit Congress to regulate campaign finance.  Two Constitutional amendments have been proposed so far.    The bills below are linked to the text of the legislation, bill summaries and status in the Thomas database (Library of Congress web site).
H.J. Res.  13 (sponsor Kaptur) proposes a Constitutional Amendment that gives Congress and the states the power to set limits on campaign contributions and expenditures.           
H.J. Res. 68 (sponsor  Boswell) would amend the Constitution to prohibit corporations or labor organizations from using operating funds from their general treasuries to pay for campaign advertising.      
See Wilson Huhn’s post for a list of what Congress currently cannot do under the U.S. Constitution. 

3.  Enact Public Campaign Financing.  Public financing offers matching funds to cover campaign costs.  In exchange for using public campaign funds the candidates agree to limit their private fundraising.  It has been in place since 1976 for Presidential campaigns and about 16 states offer public financing for state elections.  Under current law, there is no public financing available for House or Senate elections.   Since January 21, four pieces of legislation has been proposed to strengthen public campaign financing and to make it available for House and Senate candidates. 
H.R. 158 (sponsor Obey)- amends law to allow public financing for House elections. 
H.R. 1826 (sponsor Larson)- amends law to allow public financing for House elections, and much more.  It is a fairly comprehensive bill.  
H.R. 2056 (Tierney) – amends law to allow public financing for House elections and creates a Clean Elections Review Commission. 
S. 752 (Durbin)- amends law to allow public financing for Senate elections.  

 4.  Restrict Election Spending by Foreign Corporations.  Congress may amend current law to restrict U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations or add restrictions on Political Action Committees (PAC) of foreign owned corporations.  The House and Senate have been very busy proposing legislation in this category.
H.R. 3859 (sponsor Kaptur)- restricts PACs of foreign entities from making expenditures or contributions in federal elections. The following bills restrict political contributions and expenditures by foreign entities:
H.R. 4517 (sponsor Hall)  
H.R. 4522 (sponsor Pascrell)   
H.R. 4523 (sponsor Perriello)
H.R. 4540 (sponsor DeLauro)
S. 2954 (sponsor Menendez)   
S. 2959 (sponsor Franken) 

5.  Restrictions on Corporations with Government Contracts and Lobbyists
H.R. 4434 (sponsor Grayson)   Prohibit corporations receive government contracts from making political contributions and limit the amount of political donations from employees of these corporations.
H.R. 4511 (sponsor Grayson)  Proposing restrictions on political advertising by companies that employ lobbyists. 

6.  Give Shareholders additional voice in corporations’ political spending.  This can be accomplished by either requiring corporations to get shareholder’s permission before engaging in political spending or require corporations to provide advance notice of political expenditures.  The intent here is to increase the likelihood that corporations’ political spending will be consistent with a majority of the shareholders.
H.R. 4487 (sponsor Grayson)  This bill requires the approval of a majority of shareholders for any corporate expenditure to influence public opinion on matters not related to the company’s products or services.
H.R. 4537 (sponsor Capuano)   Requires the express authorization of a majority of shareholders of a public company for certain political expenditures. 
H.R. 4527 (sponsor Driehaus)  Requires corporate and union backed campaign advertising to identify the sponsors in the advertisement itself as it is now for candidates’ committees.

Read the entire report here –  Campaign Finance Policy after Citizens United: Issues and Options for Congress (published Feb. 1, 2010); By R. Sam Garrett. 

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Related Links

Hearing on the First Amendment and Campaign Finance Reform after Citizens United, held on Feb.  3   

House Committee on House Administration, Summary of the Feb. 3 hearing   

Summary of Citizens United Legislation (proposed in the House)  (H.R. 1826)  

Republican Study Committee, Policy Brief: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission   

Democrats’ response

Campaign Finance: Potential Legislative and Policy Issues for the 111^th Congress (published a year ago on Jan. 29, 2009, before Citizens United); By R. Sam Garrett.

The Innocence Project recently released a report, 250 Exonerated: Too Many Wrongfully Convicted, which details 250 exoneration cases and includes statistics on common causes of the wrongful convictions.   The organization has only been around since 1992 but has help free 250 individuals who have all been wrongfully convicted but later declared innocent by the courts.  There are 8 people from Ohio that were wrongly convicted but later exonerated with the help of this organization. 

The report’s key findings:

• There have been DNA exonerations in 33 states and the District of Columbia.

• The top three states for DNA exonerations are New York (with 25), Texas (with 40) and Illinois (with 29).

• 76% of the wrongful convictions involved eyewitness misidentification.

• 50% involved invalidated or improper forensic science.

• 27% relied on a false confession, admission or guilty plea.

• 70% of the 250 people exonerated are people of color (60% are black; nearly 9% are Latino; 29% are white).

Browse the Profiles of those Freed

Browse or search by name, state or year.  If using the browse function, you can sort by name or state just by clicking the column heading.   There are 8 people from Ohio that were wrongly convicted but later exonerated with the help of this organization.  All 8 were later freed using DNA testing on evidence originally collected by the police.  Using this same DNA results, the police were able to find 6 of the real perpetrators.   Read their personal stories by clicking on their name. 

Donte Brooker , exonerated 2005

Danny Brown, exonerated 2001

Clarence Elkins, exonerated 2005

Joseph Fears Jr., exonerated 2009

Anthony Michael Green, exonerated 2001

Robert McClendon, exonerated 2008

Brian Piszczek, exonerated 1994

Walter Smith, exonerated 1996

 Background about the Organization

The Innocence Project was established in 1992 at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City.  The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

The CIA, Homeland Security and the Defense Dept. were busy this week responding to investigations of 2009’s terrorist incidents, answering Congressional questions, and voicing concerns about the adequacy of the defense budget.  Find out when we can expect terrorist attacks and what is cyber war?  Also read the reports below on related topics that were issued from three of my favorite government agencies, Government Accountability Office, Congressional Research Service and the Congressional Budget Office.

CIA Before the Senate Intelligence Committee  – Terrorist Attacks within Six Months!

CIA Director Leon Panetta testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday (Feb. 2). The hearing was to examine current and projected threats to the U.S.  No hearing transcripts are available yet but the video can be found here.

Here is what Panetta had to say- “Al-Qaeda can be expected to attempt an attack on the United States in the next three to six months.  The terrorist organization is deploying operatives to the United States to carry out new attacks from inside the country, including "clean" recruits with a negligible trail of terrorist contacts.“  Summarized in a news story here.

Cyber War

Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, at the same hearing presented the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community report.  The report focuses on the evolving threat of cyber attacks.  Cyber attacks (sometimes called cyber war) “are occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication.”  “This cyber domain is exponentially expanding our ability to create and share knowledge, but it is also enabling those who would steal, corrupt, harm or destroy the public and private assets vital to our national interests. The recent intrusions reported by Google are a stark reminder of the importance of these cyber assets, and a wake-up call to those who have not taken this problem seriously.”

See Google’s own blog about China’s use of cyber attacks on Google’s gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. 

See Time.com’s coverage on cyberwar here,  New York Times series on the topic here,  and Frontline’s multimedia page (slightly old but good for past incidents) here.

In response, on Feb. 4^th the House passed the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (H.R. 4061) which provides nearly $1 billion dollars for federal cybersecurity under the 2010 budget.  More here.

More here:

President Obama Directs the National Security and Homeland Security Advisors to Conduct Immediate Cyber Security Review Posted on February 09, 2009.

Remarks by the President on Securing Our Nation's Cyber Infrastructure  Posted on May 29, 2009.

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Homeland Security,  but with Criticism from GAO and Congressional Research Search

The Department of Homeland Security delivered to Congress the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) Report, A Strategic Framework for a Secure Homeland, on February 1, 2010. The report outlines the strategic framework to guide the activities of participants in homeland security toward a common end.  The report lays out the roles and responsibilities of the various government agencies and the missions and goals for Homeland Security.

“The purpose of the first-ever Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) is to outline the strategic framework to guide the activities of participants in homeland security toward a common end. A safe and secure homeland must mean more than preventing terrorist attacks from being carried out. It must also ensure that the liberties of all Americans are assured, privacy is protected, and the means by which we interchange with the world – through travel, lawful immigration, trade, commerce, and exchange- are secured." (Source: page vii.)

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GAO Report:  Homeland Security: Better Use of Terrorist Watchlist Information and Improvements in Deployment of Passenger Screening Checkpoint Technologies Could Further Strengthen Security.

The title is quite a mouthful, but it is GAO’s study following the December 25, 2009 bombing attempted of flight 253.  The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the 26 page report on Jan. 27 here.     The GAO pointed out flaws in the current system and referenced another report they released in October 2007.  The adjustments suggested in the 2007 report were never made. 

“In October 2007, we released a report on the results of our review—conducted at your request—of how the watchlist is created and maintained, and how federal, state, and local security partners use the list to screen individuals for potential threats to the homeland.   As a result of that review, we identified potential vulnerabilities, including ones created because agencies were not screening against all records in the watchlist. We made a number of recommendations aimed at addressing these potential vulnerabilities and helping to enhance the effectiveness of the watchlist process, which the agencies have not yet fully addressed.” (Emphasis added.)

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Congressional Research Service Report on National Counterterrorism Center- Responsibilities and potential Congressional Concerns

Two recent incidents- the Fort Hood Army Base attack on Nov. 5, 2009 and the bomb attempt of flight 253 on Dec. 25, 2009 led to an increase concern about the U.S. domestic counterterrorism capabilities.  “Attention has focused on the NCTC which is responsible for ensuring both the sharing of information and for all-source analysis of terrorist issues.”

This 13 page report lays out areas of potential Congressional concerns about the NCTC and lists the human errors associated with these two incidents.  Also  – “Although no system is infallible and the possibility of human errors has to be assumed, recent attacks appear to demonstrate specific failures by the Intelligence Community to “connect the dots,” to bring together disparate pieces of information to provide clear warning of an impending attack. In regard to the December attack, President Obama stated that, “this was not a failure to collect intelligence; it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had.” (see page 1)

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Defense Dept. 2011 Budget Proposal, and 2010 War Funding Supplemental Request – Update

From beSpacific blog:

News release: "President Barack Obama sent to Congress a proposed defense budget of $708 billion for fiscal 2011. The budget request for the Department of Defense (DoD) includes $549 billion in discretionary budget authority to fund base defense programs and $159 billion to support overseas contingency operations (OCO), primarily in Afghanistan and Iraq. This proposal continues the reform agenda established in last year's DoD budget request and builds on the initiatives identified by the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and 2010 Ballistic Missile Defense Review (BMDR). The QDR examines DoD strategies and priorities. It assesses the threats and challenges that the nation faces and re-balances DoD’s strategies, capabilities, and forces to ensure the U.S. military has the flexibility to address today’s conflicts and tomorrow’s threats. The BMDR evaluates the ballistic missile threat to the U.S. and its allies and articulates policy. It determines the appropriate role of ballistic missile defense in the country’s national security and military strategies."

"Key highlights of the proposed DoD budget are here and here. For more information and to view the entire fiscal 2011 budget proposal, go here and download the "FY 2011 Budget Request Overview Book."

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Congressional Budget Office analyzes the DoD Budget

The DoD gets support from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).  CBO's Analysis of Scenarios for Funding the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Letter from the executive director of the CBO to John M. Spratt Jr., Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget, January 21, 2010.  The first paragraph says it all.

 "As you requested, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has analyzed both the funding needed to support an additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and the reduction in costs resulting from the ongoing withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111-118, 111 H.R. 3326 ) provides $130 billion for war-related operations in 2010. Based on recent trends in spending on overseas operations, the Department of Defense (DoD) would probably require further appropriations in 2010 to support an additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan as well as other war-related operations."

If the 2010 Defense budget is not enough, is the 2011 budget adequate?

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Is there a law of war?  Yes, and it is issued by the Dept. of Defense!

The Law of War Deskbook, was recently issued by the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, U.S. Army.  The expected audience is the beginning and intermediate level practitioner, but you can read it yourself.  The PDF copy is here and is 248 pages long.  Using the Adobe Reader search tool is one way to quickly find topics in the book.

From the preface:  “Together with the Operational Law Handbook and Law of War Documentary Supplement, these three volumes represent the range of international and operational law subjects taught to military judge advocates. These outlines, while extensive, make no pretence of comprehensively covering this complex area of law.”

“This Deskbook is not a substitute for official publications. Similarly, it should not be considered to espouse an “official” position of the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government. While every effort has been made to ensure that the material contained herein is current and correct, it should be remembered that these are merely a collection of teaching outlines, collected, bound, and distributed as a matter of instructional convenience, intended only to introduce students to the law and point them to primary sources of that law.” 

Topics covered:  legal basis for use of force, wounded and sick in the field, prisoners of war, occupation and post-conflict governance, means and method of warfare, human rights, war crimes and command responsibility.

Last week I posted information on how to track corporate election contributions under federal election law.  This week I will show you where to find campaign contributions for Ohio elections.

States regulate campaign finance three ways: disclosure, contribution limits and public financing.   All states require some level of disclosure on the amount and source of contributions and expenditures.  Until recently, states could limit the amount and source of campaign contributions which included corporate giving.  Several states offer public financing to candidates or political parties.  There are limits and regulations associated with public financing and the grants only cover a small portion of the campaign costs.  Source. 

State Election Contribution Limits

Contribution limits can take the form of:  who can receive contributions (candidates, political parties and political action committees), who can contribute (i.e., no unions or corporations), when contributions are permitted (i.e., not permitted during legislative session), and the amount of contribution.   As of January 25, 2010, there are 24 states that prohibit or restrict corporate or union contributions for candidates.  Ohio is one of those 24 states.   See chart.  Ohio corporate campaign laws are listed at the bottom of this post. 

“It is important to note that the Citizens United v. FEC decision does not strike down bans on corporate and union contributions to candidates, which currently exist in 23 states. Only the ban on direct corporate and union spending on campaign advertising is addressed by this decision.”  Source.

How to Find Political Contributions in Ohio

The Ohio Secretary of State supervises the administration of election laws and compiles campaign finance reports and statistics. 

For campaign disclosure information for past elections, begin here.  There are two ways to search Ohio’s campaign finance data. 

1. Use the Search Candidates and Committees link to access the Campaign Finance Query System.  This is the easiest method.  The tabs along the top allow users to search by candidate, political parties, Political Action Committees (PACs), and county political parties.  Choose your tab and then at the next screen pick contributions or expenditures.  You can search by name of candidate, contributor, city, zip code, amount of money, etc.  The results of the search can be viewed in the browser, printed or downloaded. 

 For a sample search I looked for contributors to the gubernatorial election 0f 2006, enter:

City =AKRON (enter any city using all capital letters) or use the zip code search box.

Report Type = pre-general  (for before the general election.  Can also search for primaries, special elections, annual, or monthly data).

Office = governor  (state elected officials, elected judges and retirement board elections are available).

Order by= I chose YEAR and DESCENDING so that the chart will display the latest election first.  Other options to sort by are contributor’s name, address, amount of money, committee name, etc.

Output Format = HTML, EXCEL or ASCII.  I chose HTML so that it displays in the browser.  The Excel option allows you to save the spreadsheet to your computer.

Run Report = click the Run Report button to generate the table.

The web site is slow so be patient.  The resulting chart lists individual and PACs contributions to the various candidates that ran for governor.  2006 data is displayed first. Click NEXT at the bottom of the chart to go to the next page.

There are other parameters to use for your search.  You may wish to narrow your search by year, or by amount of money, or by a candidate’s name.  To catch the last Presidential election, you can narrow the years using a BEGIN date of 01/01/2006 and the END date of 12/31/2008.

Conducting a similar search under the Political Action Committee (PAC) tab produces a list of contributors to each PAC.  The PACs listed include insurance companies, unions, banks, law firms, corporations, professional associations and public interest groups.  In summary, searching by PAC tells you who contributed to the PAC, and searching by candidate tells you which PACs supported what candidate. 

 2.   The second way to obtain campaign finance data is to use the Download Common Reports Via FTP.  For this method “the most commonly requested campaign finance data have already been queried and placed in a downloadable file.”  The file can be opened in many spreadsheet or database programs.  The choices are organized by contributions or expenditures for candidates, political parties or PACs.   Some of the data goes back to 1994!  I downloaded a few of the files and opened them in Excel.  It wasn’t that difficult.

Also under this option is a list of active candidates and an Active PAC List, both dated Jan. 28, 2010.  I searched for someone who is rumored to be a candidate but they were not listed, which may indicate a slight time lag between filing as a candidate to making it to the list on the web site.  The OHIO PAC list has over 1000 entities listed!

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NOTE: Ohio’s election law R.C. 3517.103 was already declared unconstitutional by a state court case in August 2009!

See the Personal Funds Statute Warning  more here.

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Ohio Corporate Contribution Laws

Below are the existing Ohio laws.  Look for changes in these laws in the future due to the recent U.S. Supreme Court Case.

No corporation, no nonprofit corporation, and no labor organization, directly or indirectly, shall pay or use, or offer, advise, consent, or agree to pay or use, the organization’s money or property for or in aid of or opposition to a political party, a candidate for election or nomination to public office, a political action committee including a political action committee of the corporation or labor organization, a legislative campaign fund, or any organization that supports or opposes any such candidate, or for any partisan political purpose.  §3599.03

No person shall make, during the thirty days preceding a primary election or during the thirty days preceding a general election, any broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate using any contributions received from a corporation or labor organization.  §3517.1011(H)

Other Useful Links

National Conference of State Legislatures- Elections and Campaigns

National Conference of State Legislatures-  contributions limits with links to charts.  

Campaign Finance Legislation Database.  Search by states, topics related to campaign finance and year.  You can search for 2010 to find current changes in state election laws, but only some of the state legislatures are in session right now.  Many state elections laws will be affected by the Supreme Court opinion and will need to be brought into compliance with the ruling. 

Election Law @ Moritz web site and blogs sponsored by Ohio State University.  

Brookings Institute, on Campaign Finance.

The recent Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. FEC, deals with corporations, unions and other groups contributing to independent campaign advertising.  This case is discussed by others in this blog.     

Related to this case, did you know that campaign contributions are made publically available by the Federal Election Commission?  You can find out who contributed, how much to what candidate.   With a few extra steps you can trace it back to a corporation.  Instructions on how to find this information follows.

 Individuals’ Contributions

We will fist look at searching for individual contributions because it is rather easy.  Find out who contributed in the last political campaign and how much was donated to each candidate.  The Federal Election Commission web site provides this data and is easy to search.

Contributions to the 2008 Presidential Campaign are available here.  Search by donor’s name, by city or zip code.  When searching by name, enter the last name in the search box, then a comma, and then the first name.  So to search for the Ohio Governor’s contributions, the search would look like this  -  strickland, ted.  Try searching for celebrities or your own name!

Search here to find out how much an individual donated over several campaigns.

Want community wide figures?

Click on Ohio on this map, and then holding your mouse over Akron (zip code 443xx), and it will show that $493,833 was donated by individuals in the last Presidential Campaign.  Hmmmm.  It looks like Kent (zip 442xx) donated more ($691,349)!

To get data broken down for Akron, at the Presidential Campaign Finance page, click the down arrow and select to search by city.  Searching “Akron” generates a chart of people who live in Akron, how much they donated and to which candidate.  After a chart is displayed, columns can be sorted so try sorting the displayed chart by state, zip code or candidate’s name.  (There are other communities called Akron in the country so sort by state to get Akron, Ohio data grouped together.)

Corporation Contributions

Now for the fun part but not an easy search in this database!  First, you can search by Political Action Committees (PAC) or other political group/party (i.e., Green Party) by starting here.  Select the 2007-2008 election cycle.  Then search by your candidate’s last name.  At the next screen, click on your candidate’s name and then click on the Non-Party (PACs) link.   See how much money was donated by the unions, professional associations and PACs.  Some corporations form a PAC and donate that way.  So for instance, Goodyear’s PAC is called Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Good Government Fund.

Next, in the list of Committees who gave to the candidate, click on the name of the PAC you are interested in.  I chose the National Rifle Association (NRA).  Click on the Contributions Received link.  Sometimes in the list of contributors you will see corporate donors listed.  For my NRA example we see that Microsoft Corp. Political Action Committee donated money to the NRA PAC back in 2000.  (Why would Microsoft donate to the NRA?)  So a corporate PAC can donate to an association’s PAC who eventually contributes to a candidate. 

This is one way to find corporate contributions.  It is rather difficult and requires several steps.  There is an easier way! 

Another web site that tracks Political Action Committees is  OpenSecrets.org.     It is not a government site.  Find out which PAC corporations are donating to which candidates.   Search for the corporation in the search box in the upper right corner of the OpenSecrets.org web page.  Change the campaign cycle using the drop down arrow in the middle of the page.  Let’s change it to the 2008 campaign cycle and we’ll try searching Microsoft again.  You get charts of spending and list of candidates supported (click recipients).  The list of donors shows who contributed to the corporate PAC.   So if you want to make it difficult for others to see who you contribute to, donate to a corporate PAC who in turn donates to an association PAC, who then donates to a candidate! 

 Independent Groups’ contributions

The Campaign Finance Institute  tracks campaign contributions by outside groups.  The institute is a non-partisan, non-profit institute affiliated with The George Washington University.   Independent Expenditures in 2008 General Election are found here (columns can be sorted),   click here for interests groups, and here for general financing of the campaign.

See this Wall Street Journal article which explains the effect the Supreme Court ruling will have on independent group spending on future election campaigns.  Some of the largest independent groups that contributed to the 2008 General Election are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses ($36.4 million) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Labor Union ($27 million).

Who wouldn’t like Supreme Court issues explained in easy to understand terminology?  The Supreme Court of the United States Blog (SCOTUSBLOG) is now publishing plain English summaries of the Questions Presented in each of the Supreme Court cases for this Term.   

Below, the blog has set out the questions for cases through April 2010, divided according to subject matter.  The cases are listed with their Plain English issue.

• The Criminal Law Docket in Plain English
• The Civil Constitutional and Civil Rights Docket in Plain English
• The Rest of the Civil Docket in Plain English

For definitions of legal terms used in the cases, look them up in the Glossary of Supreme Court terms which is also available on the SCOTUS blog site. 

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SCOTUS Wiki   

This wiki is a great one-stop site for information about the latest Supreme Court cases.  A typical listing includes links to the briefs filed in the case, oral argument analysis, transcripts of the oral arguments (as they are available), the decision, background about the case and links to articles, blog postings and law review articles.  I am inserting the Plain English description of the questions presented in the cases.

Upcoming cases in January listed on the wiki:

Tues., Jan. 19:

1. Mac’s Shell Service, Inc. v. Shell Oil Products Company; Shell Oil Products Company v. Mac’s Shell Service (08-240; 08-372) — the rights of service station operators to sue to challenge the loss, or non-renewal of their franchises from oil companies.  Plain English- Federal law regulates when an oil company can terminate gas station franchises.  The question presented is: can a station sue only if the oil company has formally “terminated” it, rather than for less severe action that would be a “constructive termination.”
2. Granite Rock Company v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters (08-1214) — federal court’s jurisdiction to determine collective bargaining agreement formation.  Plain English- In this case, the employer wants to sue over a collective bargaining agreement signed by a local union rather than its international.  The questions are, under federal labor law, whether (1) a federal court or instead an arbitrator should decide whether there is an actual agreement, and (2) the employer should sue the international or instead the local.

Wed., Jan. 20:

1. Berghuis v. Smith (08-1402) — the proper test to assess the fairness of community representation on a jury.  Plain English-  The case presents two issues.  First, what test should be used to decide whether the defendant’s constitutional right to a jury representing a fair cross-section of the community has been violated?  Second, assuming that the state courts in this case applied the wrong test, did they violate “clearly established federal law,” which is required to overturn the defendant’s conviction?
2. Conkright v. Frommert (08-810) — the proper standard of review for an ERISA denial-of-benefits case.  Plain English-  An employee health plan often has an administrator who must interpret its terms, and in some circumstances courts will defer to the administrator’s reading.  The question is whether a court should defer not only to interpretations that administrators adopt when deciding claims for benefits but also interpretations they adopt when litigating a lawsuit in court.

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More Plain English – The life of a case at the Supreme Court

To help illustrate the terms and concepts you will often encounter in discussions of the Supreme Court, SCOTUSBLOG has written an imaginary Supreme Court case.  The sample case explains terminology used and every step of the Supreme Court process.

The New York Times compares the House and the Senate Health Care Proposals on 16 key issues.  Some of the major issues compared are:  individual mandates, employer contributions, subsidies for individuals, abortion coverage, illegal immigration coverage, cost and coverage of the two proposals and who pays for the proposals.

At the New York Times Health Care page, choose a category on the left to see a comparison of the House and Senate versions on the right.

What is better than Google?  How about two new legal research search engines designed by legal powerhouses. 

American Bar Association  Legal Search Engine 

The American Bar Association (ABA) continues to develop online sources for the public.   Legal Help, Guides to Everyday Law and the Supreme Court Preview are some ABA resources.

The ABA now offers a search engine that searches the full-text of over 300 free online law reviews and law journals, as well as document repositories hosting academic papers and related publications such as Congressional Research Service reports.  Two large document repositories searched by this ABA product are the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and Selected Works by Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress).  The significance of these two databases is that faculty can post draft copies of their work months before the articles appear in print.  The Congressional Research Service reports are typically only available to members of Congress and congressional staff, but many individuals and librarians are working together to make the reports available to the public through programs such as opencrs.com.    The ABA search engine searches the Congressional Research Service reports making them easier to find.

Cornell University Legal Research Engine

The Legal Information Institute (LII)  at Cornell University Law School has long been a provider of free public legal information.  It is the most linked web resource in the field of law.   So now they have a Legal Research Engine!

Users have four search options:  Legal Research Guides, the Legal Internet, Academic Blawgs (law blogs) or search all three categories at one time.  Legal Research Guides are written by law librarians and direct patrons to sources on legal topics.  Cornell University has been reviewing the best of the legal web sites for years and now provides a way to search this material by keyword in the Legal Internet search field.  The Academic Blawgs search accesses hundreds of blog postings by law professors.  Law professors post on a variety legal topics and share news of new developments in the law.  Of course, if you want it all, choose the last search option which conducts all three searches at the same time.

I was laid off from my job and I am 7 ½ months pregnant.  They said the reason was because they were over staffed.  Is this legal?

I am trying to find a statute stating that the employer does not have to pay the final pay check of employee who stole cash from the company.  Do I have to give this thief their final pay check?

I was forced to quit my job because of my employer’s unwillingness to provide a safe workplace.  They allow a coworker to bring guns to work.  Do I have any recourse?

These are real questions about real employment situations.  Sadly, these questions are just posted on a web site waiting for someone to help the poster.   As always, anyone seeking legal advice should contact their lawyer but where can people begin to get information about employment law issues?  Posting on a web site and hoping someone can answer your question should not be your first step.  Also, time is of the essence and for some issues you must act quickly to secure your employment rights.

The U.S. Department of Labor has several online sources meant for employers and employees that provide easy-to-understand information about federal employment laws.

1.  The elaws Advisors  are interactive and “simulates the interaction you might have with an employment law expert. It asks questions and provides answers based on responses given.”  Choose from 30 different employment topics.
2.  The FirstStep Employment Law Advisor  is designed to help employers determine which federal employment laws administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) apply to their business or organization.  “The Advisor asks the user a short series of questions to determine which of the major DOL-administered laws apply to their organization. The Advisor takes into account relevant variables — such as size of business and type of industry — that determine coverage for these laws.” 
3. The Employment Law Guide  is a companion publication to the FirstStep advisor and “ is designed for those needing hands-on information to develop wage, benefit, safety and health, and nondiscrimination policies for businesses.”   Each chapter in the Guide corresponds to the laws covered in the FirstStep Advisor.

What can you do if you think that your employer has violated federal law?   Contact the Ohio regional offices of the U.S. Dept. of Labor to file a complaint.   

Be prepared to follow through with your complaint. 

Here is why.  A report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) last summer found serious problems with the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.  Conducting investigations based on employee complaints is a priority of the Wage and Hour Division but the GAO tested the complaint intake process, sometimes GAO investigators actually posed as fictitious callers.  “GAO found that WHD frequently responded inadequately to complaints, leaving low wage workers vulnerable to wage theft and other labor law violations.  These tests found that WHD staff deterred fictitious callers from filing a complaint by encouraging employees to resolve the issue themselves, directing most calls to voicemail, not returning phone calls to both employees and employers, and providing conflicting or misleading information about how to file a complaint.”  The GAO submitted a list of recommendations for action to correct the problem.  Listen to clips of the undercover calls illustrating poor customer service.   The summary of the GAO report, with links to the full copy, is found here.  

Do not let this stop you from filing a complaint with the Department of Labor. Just keep this in mind and be prepared to follow up with the agency.  Statute of limitations apply for federal employment laws and every day that the agency delays an investigation puts you at risk of becoming ineligible to collect any back wages owed to you. 

Related Ohio government web sites

Ohio government – Working & Employment web page 
Ohio Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Labor & Worker Safety  
Ohio Civil Rights Commission, discrimination in  employment.  Click on “Filing a Charge” for instructions and forms.

We know what is reported in the media.  The Financial Times of London reports that the United States is facing our longest recession on record.   Some major newspapers like the Wall Street Journal  and New York Times, have special topic pages devoted to monitoring economic conditions.  What does the Federal Government say about the economy? 

Who is responsible for this mess? Is it the government’s fault, Wall Street’s fault or everyone’s fault?  One report places the blame on everyone including the American public.  Read on for the explanation.

What does the Federal Government say about the economy?

Is it getting better or worse?  Third quarter statistics are being complied and reported by the government in the last two weeks.  Let’s take a look at how the various federal agencies think the economy is doing.

BETTER.  The Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Dept. of Commerce says the gross domestic product (GDP) increased during the 3^rd quarter this year.  The reason- “The increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, private inventory investment, federal government spending, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a negative contribution from nonresidential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.”  Source.  More here.

WORSE.  The Congressional Budget Office is predicting a grim federal fiscal situation with a relatively slow and tentative economic recovery.  CBO Director Doug Elmendorf's November  24^th presentation to the American Association for Budget and Program Analysis can be found here.   The last slide of the presentation gives his “bottom line”: "The country faces a fundamental disconnect between the services people expect the government to provide, particularly in the form of benefits for older Americans, and the tax revenues that people are willing to send to the government to finance those services. The fundamental disconnect will have to be addressed in some way if the budget is to be placed on a sustainable course."  More information from the Congressional Budget Office here and here including long term economic outlook and an analysis of the President’s Budgetary Proposal for 2010.

BETTER.  The Federal Reserve Beige Book was just released Dec. 2 and gives a summary of current economic conditions with links to reports by Districts.  "Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts (including Cleveland) indicate that economic conditions have generally improved modestly in the last quarter.”  Consumer spending and home sales were cited as the source for the improvement.  Go here for the Summary  and here for the Full Report.   

WORSE.    Bankruptcy filings are up 34% over last year.    The U.S. Bankruptcy Courts released their statistics at the end of November, showing a total of 1.4 million cases filed for fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30th.

BETTER.  Remarks by the President and Vice President at the Opening Session of the Jobs and Economic Growth Forum on Dec. 3.      “…productivity is surging.  Companies are reporting profits.  The stock market is up.”  All this due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  More here. 

WORSE.  U.S. Dept. of Agriculture reported in November that the farm income is down and food insecurity is up.  Farm debt has shifted from the small farmers to the larger farms.   

BETTER.  Current employment statistics as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics were released today, Dec. 4^th.  The unemployment rate edged down to 10 % in Nov. at 15.4 million unemployed persons.  (Compared to October’s 10.2%.) 

WORSE. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released a study on Dec. 2 showing the one in four U.S. households are unbanked (no checking or savings account) or underbanked and that those households are disproportionately low-income and/or minority.  What does “underbanked” mean?  Underbanked households were defined as those with bank accounts but have used nonbank money orders, nonbank check-cashing services, payday loans, rent-to-own agreements, or pawn shops at least once or twice a year.  Report here and  press release about the study here.  The FDIC web site also has bank closing information.

Since we are talking about banks, take a look at the Problem Bank List (for Nov. 20, 2009) (unofficial) but with links to Cease and Desist letters and other agreements from the government agencies such as the Federal Reserve or the Comptroller of the Currency.   There are Ohio banks on the list.

For Fun

Use the U.S. National Debt Clock to monitor the financial condition of the United States for yourself.  “The numbers are laid out so as to give a complete real-time snap-shot of the country's balance sheet.”  Revenue numbers are green and debt numbers are in red.   Slide your mouse over each entry of clock for a description of the dept and which government agency is supplying the data.  The national debt, budget deficit, consumer debt, social security liability and trade deficit are just a few of the items traced by the clock.   This site is not associated with the government, political party, or lobby group.

Still Trying to Figure out How it all Happened?

The Brookings Institution released a report on Nov. 23^rd, written by Douglas J. Elliott and Martin Neil Baily called Telling the Narrative of the Financial Crisis: Not Just a Housing Bubble. 

"Major crises, such as the recent financial crisis, usually end up being understood by the public in terms of some simple narrative, which then heavily influences the choices politicians make. We believe there are three major story lines still vying for acceptance by the public and that whichever one comes to dominate could strongly affect public policy.

• Narrative 1: It was the fault of the government, which encouraged a massive housing bubble and mishandled the ensuing crisis.
• Narrative 2: It was Wall Street’s fault, stemming from greed, arrogance, stupidity, and misaligned incentives, especially in compensation structures.
• Narrative 3: “Everyone” was at fault: Wall Street, the government, and our wider society. People in all types of institutions and as individuals became blasé about risk-taking and leverage, creating a bubble across a wide range of investments and countries."

“The authors believe that narrative 3 comes closest to the truth.”  Read the report to find out why they think so.  Report is 21 pages long.

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More information:

Nice list of recent material about the financial system from the beSpacific blog.

State of Ohio National Economy Information 

Ohio Department of Commerce 

Ohio Recovery and Reinvestment Act  

Akron Mayor’s Office of Economic Development

The big news this week on the legal blogs – Google Scholar now searches case law!

It is fast and easy to use.  You can search by case name (Terry v. Ohio) or by topics (fourth amendment). 

Let’s Get Started

Go to Google.com.  Click MORE at the top of the page and from the drop down choices, select SCHOLAR.  Make sure to click the radio button for “Legal Opinions and Journals.”  Enter your search.  That’s it…very easy.  Here is a direct link to Google Scholar to save in your Favorites. 

Picking a Jurisdiction

Do you need to just search Ohio cases?  Click on the Advanced Scholar Search to the right of the search button.  At the bottom of the next screen you can select to search one state or a grouping of states.  You can also search just federal court opinions if you wish.  While you are on the Advanced Scholar Search page, you may also want to limit your search by date.

The Results

Did I mention that it was FAST!  Thousands of cases searched and results displayed in seconds.  The search results are sorted by the highest courts first and by the most cited cases.   From the resulting list of cases, click on the name of a case to read the opinion.  Your search terms are highlighted in the case.  Many cases mentioned in the opinion link directly to the case.  Statutes and rules cited in the opinion are not linked.  This should be an easy fix for Google since statutes and court rules are already available for free on the web.  See here for free Ohio Statutes and here for Ohio Court Rules.  

Page numbers on the left cite to the West Reporters.  Watch out…there has been some criticism that the pages numbers may be off by a couple of words.

The HOW CITED tab takes you to lists of cases that cite your case or are related in some way (Cited By, on the right).  Also on the left are cases that quote from you case (How This Document Has Been Cited).  The left column gives snippets from the citing case.  Opening one of these cases will take you directly to the relevant part of the case.

Searches will also list law journals but a subscription is usually needed to go to the full text copy of the article.   This may be changing as more law reviews move to the web.

Search Tips

• Use quotation marks to search phrases.  Many legal concepts are often phrases- habeas corpus, sovereign immunity, Second Amendment, etc., so use the quotes. 
• If your search pulls up too many results, use the date restriction at the top of the page in the SCHOLAR line.  The default is all dates.  The drop-down arrow allows you to narrow the results by year ranges.

Coverage

“Google Scholar allows you to search and read opinions for US state appellate and supreme court cases since 1950, US federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy courts since 1923 and US Supreme Court cases since 1791 (please check back periodically for updates to coverage information).  In addition, it includes citations for cases cited by indexed opinions or journal articles which allows you to find influential cases (usually older or international) which are not yet online or publicly available.”   Source

 See Google’s Nov. 17^th announcement for more information.

On November 2, the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) released a report analyzing the Dept. of Defense’s ability to drawdown (or withdrawal) U.S. Forces from Iraq.   Troop withdrawal plans are based on the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement signed in 2008 (support by President Obama here ) and intend to reduce to 50,000 troops by August 2010 and be completely withdrawn by the end of 2011.  This task is daunting and means the drawdown of 128,700 U.S. troops, 115,000 contractors, closing 295 bases and the retrograde of over 3.3 million pieces of U.S. DOD equipment in Iraq worth $45.8 billion.  Can the DOD meet the timeline set by the President and the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement?  The GAO took a look.

The U.S. General Accountability Office is considered a watchdog agency that examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations and other assistance to help Congress and the President make decisions.  The following are problems that the GAO identified as impeding the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.  More details about each are found in the report.

• contract services that need to support the drawdown have not been fully identified;

 • potential costs and other concerns of transitioning key contracts that may outweigh potential benefits;

• longstanding shortages of contract oversight personnel may increase the likelihood of wasteful practices during the drawdown;

• some key decisions about the disposition of equipment that have not yet been made; what equipment will be given to the Iraqi government and what will return to the U.S.?

• longstanding information technology system weaknesses and problems with legacy systems; and

• a lack of complete and accurate inventory over some equipment.

The GAO’s prediction- “Without resolution, these issues may inhibit the efficient and effective execution of the drawdown.”

________________________________________________ 

Below are some key documents related to the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq:

1. U.S./Iraq Security Agreement , also called Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).  Agreement between the United States and the Republic of Iraq on the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq Nov. 17, 2008  (24 pages) and from the White House website here. 
2. Strategic Framework Agreement  (SFA) Nov. 17, 2008 (8 pages) and from the White House website here.
3. Operation Iraqi Freedom: Preliminary Observations on DOD Planning for the Drawdown of U.S. Forces from Iraq, GAO-10-179, November 02, 2009, (29 pages).
4. Multi-National Forces-Iraq web site.   (Just click “continue” to get through the certificate errors.)
5. U.S. Department of State Weekly Iraq Status Reports
6. Other U.S. GAO reports on Iraq and Afghanistan

Questions:

1. In the last 50 years or so, how many U.S. Supreme Court cases dealt with Fifth Amendment self-incrimination?
2. Of the four Court eras covered by the database (Warren, Burger, Rehnquist and Roberts), which court era had the most number of liberal decisions?
3. How many cases from Ohio made it to the U.S. Supreme Court?

 
Answering these types of questions just got easier.  Released this week, the Supreme Court Database allows anyone to search, pull up cases, and perform simple analyses.  This new database has created quite a stir on the legal blogs. 

 
The best part of the Supreme Court Database is the search options! 

If you are interested in a single case, you can access information about it (along with links to the decision) by entering the citation or case name.  A detailed case report includes lower court background, a break down on how the Justices voted for each legal issue in the case, whether the outcome is considered conservative or liberal, and links to copies of the decision on the web.  Two links point to free copies of the case decision.

If you want to analyze all the cases or a grouping of cases, use the database search to create lists of cases by legal issue, or by Court Era, by vote detail by each Justice, vote direction (liberal or conservative), legal precedent changes, etc.

I had fun trying all sorts of searches.  How many cases declared law unconstitutional?  How many cases changed precedent?  What are the 50 most prevelant petitioners (the person who initiated the case)?  The database searches are lightening fast!  No waiting for tables to display.

“In addition to providing a web-based platform to search and analyze the Supreme Court Database, this site also provides downloadable files that researchers can use with their own statistical software.”  Durable links to searches, lists and tables work also!  Generate lists or tables and share the link with others.   For an example, see my answer links below.   Way Cool!

To use the database:  At the Supreme Court Database site, click the Analysis search tab and then click the Specifications tab.

Coverage:   Data coverage right now is from 1953 to 2008 and includes data for 7367 cases. The database will be continuously updated.   Funding from the National Science Foundation is supporting the posting of the court’s decisions and data back to 1792 over the next four years.

Answers:

1. There have been 106 U.S. Supreme Court cases on self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment.  Click for a list of these cases.   
2. The Warren Court had 66.7% liberal decisions and only 32.1% conservative.  Click for the table.  (If you wish to see how liberal and conservative is determined, click on documentation. )
3. In the last 50 years, 80 cases from Ohio reached the U.S. Supreme Court.  Click for a list of these cases.     

Let's have some fun!  Below is a sampling of haunted courthouses, haunted jails and even haunted libraries.  Some of the ghostly apparitions were caught on security cameras or web cams!  

Haunted Courthouses

• Lincoln County Courthouse, NC.  Charlotte News (after clicking on the link scroll down to read the article and see the video from a surveillance camera).  Possible explanation and a better quality video is found here .
• Pickens County Courthouse, Carrollton, Alabama has the famous face in the window.  Background story here and more pictures here.

 Haunted Jails

• Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield is included on most lists of haunted jails.  Story here.   Sign-up for ghost walks and ghost hunts or visit the Reformatory for Halloween.
•  Alcatraz Federal Prison, now a national park, with history here and Alcatraz ghost stories here.    YouTube video interview and ghost photographs.  Judge for yourself!

Haunted Libraries

• The Willard Library, Evansville, Indiana, has had a ghost cam for years.  Software allows users to click and post images from the library’s three cameras.  The fun is looking at postings by others to see if you see the ghost.  Make sure to click in the bottom of each frame to “get a better look.”
• Here is a listing of more haunted libraries in the Midwest and Ohio. 

 Buying a Haunted House?

Can you back out of a deal if you bought a home but then discover it is haunted?  Can you get your money back?  Well, in New York in 1991 there was such a case,  Stambovsky v. Ackley, 572 N.Y.2d 672 (NY App. Div. 1991).  It seems that Helen Ackley owned the home and knew that it was haunted.  In fact, so did everyone in the neighborhood.  Helen enjoyed the ghosts but the new owner, who was from New York City, did not know about the house’s reputation, did not enjoy spending $650,000 for a haunted house and wanted out of the deal.  In the end, the court let the potential buyer out of the contract.  More information with picture of the home here and here.

The judge had great fun writing the opinion, sprinkling references to ghosts, hauntings, paranormal phenomena, and even the Ghostbusters movie.  The opinion begins with…”Plaintiff, to his horror, discovered that the house…”   The judge also stated that the “as a matter of law, the house is haunted.”   The court opinion is fun to read, is only 6 pages long and can be found here.   More about the story here.

Happy Halloween!

Here is a look at some health care reform initiatives at the state level.

1.   National Governors Issue Brief Highlights State Employee Health Management Initiatives

"States are exploring programs to combat the chronic diseases that account for more than 75 percent of all health care costs, including the states', according to a new Issue Brief from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center).  State Employee Health Management Initiatives looks at initiatives being implemented by states to curb rising costs for health care while continuing to provide health benefits to their employees. Recognizing the high costs of health care, states—which collectively employ more than 4 million people—are increasingly offering health management programs to improve employee wellness."

Source: beSpacific blog 
National Governors Association  

2.       State Legislation on Comprehensive Health Care Coverage

The Library of Congress has links to states that have “attempted to pass their own laws to provide health care to cover all residents or all uninsured residents. ” Organized in a nice chart, the links take the user to a brief description of the laws, the coverage the states offer, employer and individual contributions, and exemptions from the laws.  ”As the current debate on health care reform continues, these states programs provide experimental models of government comprehensive health care legislation.”

3.        What is Ohio doing to improve access to health coverage, improve quality and contain costs?

Under Ohio’s recently enacted state budget (Am. Sub. H.B. 1, 2009), new requirements for insurance companies and businesses could help more than 100,000 now uninsured adults obtain coverage.  For a summary of these changes, go here.  

Anyone with questions about health insurance should call the Department’s consumer hotline at 1-800-686-1526 and visit this page for information.

Ohio Department of Insurance 
Ohio Department of Health 

The Public's Right to Know: or how polluted is Summit County?

“Every American has the right to know the chemicals to which they may be exposed in their daily living. Right-to-know laws provide information about possible chemical exposures.”   Source: U.S. EPA

Polluted water.  Polluted air.  Superfund sites. Toxic Release of Chemicals.  This is all happening around us.  Companies, counties, cities and people violating our own standards and regulations.  Several articles just this week demonstrate that it is local and ongoing.  How can we become more informed and educated about the issues?  How can we move towards more environmentally friendly practices?  How polluted is our county?

 In the headlines:

Akron resolves sewer lawsuit (with U.S. EPA, about water pollution)   

Northeast Ohio doesn't comply with clean-air rule (also with the U.S. EPA) 

 First we need to learn what and where the problems are.  We can get this information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  This data is collected by the U.S. EPA and then posted online for the public to search and access the information.  Use this web site to get all kinds of pollution reports about Ohio.  To save you time, I have links in this post to reports on Ohio, Summit County or Akron.  At the U.S. EPA web page you will see:

• MyEnvironment – this search box provides a report on the local environment based on the user’s location.  You generate your own pollution report by searching your address, ZIP code, city or place name.  Try it!   The results are broken into sections- MyAir (air quality), MyHealth (cancer risk in your area, mortality and low birth rates), MyLand (Superfund sites), MyWater (water conditions) and MyEcological Conditions.
• Data Finder – this search box searches all the EPA data available online.  Type in simple topics like air, water or chemicals.  You will be linked to a list of databases to search online.  Be careful – you can get lost in these databases!  I highlighted a few of the easier ones to use in the section below.
• Use the EPA search box at the top of the page to find more information about Ohio.

The Public’s Right to Know web page

EPA's Public's Right to Know web page links to a variety of EPA databases that display data and information.  Most can be searched by Zip Code, county or company name.  Here are a few key databases to try.

Toxics Release Inventory–  - “a database that contains information concerning specific toxic chemical releases, transfers, waste management and pollution prevention activities from manufacturing facilities throughout the United States.”  Generate a report by ZIP code, state or by name of business.  The report lists facilities in the county and the chemicals they dispose onsite (i.e., wells or landfills) or release (i.e., air emissions).  Summit County list of companies and their toxic chemicals is found here http://tinyurl.com/yjmb955 .  

Local Drinking Water Information – Here is information for Ohio and a link to water quality reports for various Ohio cities including Akron.

AIRNOW -  AIRNOW provides real-time air pollution data.  Enter a Zip Code or select a state.  It gives the current air quality index, particles (particulate matter) and Ozone levels.  Set up a notification and receive this information via email. 

Air Pollution in Your Area  – generate an AirData report by geographic area (use region, state, metropolitan area or  ZIP Code).   Here is the air pollution report for Summit County.

Superfund Risk Assessment – Search your locale and discover the health risks based on where you live.   Here is the National Priorities List of Superfund Cleanup sites in Ohio.  Map for Ohio with more information and about the cleanup sites is here.    This includes various site documents and the cleanup progress. 

Local Superfund Cleanup Sites:

Summit County – Copley Square Plaza  
Portage County – Summit National in Deerfield
Stark County – Industrial Excess Landfill in Uniontown and the TRW Plant in Minerva

Other information found on the U.S. EPA website:

• EPA HotLine –  use the online form to report spills and environmental violations.  Call 1-800-424-8802 to report environmental emergencies that threaten public health.
• Other EPA Hotlines are listed here.   

Links at the top of the EPA home page  lead to more information.

• Laws and Regulations – the link at the top of the page leads to laws and regulations administered and enforced by the U.S. EPA. 
  • State plans and programs under Federal Regulations – here is Ohio’s plans. 
• Science and Technology – follow this link at the top of the web page for articles and a link to other environmental databases maintained by the EPA.
• Learn the Issues – Want to learn more?  Click the Learn the Issues link for articles and recently asked questions on related topics.

 What about the Ohio EPA?

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency   - although a nice site, it is just not as impressive as the federal site.

Ohio EPA Rules and Laws

Exploring Constitutional Law is a wonderful site created by Doug Linder, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School.  “This site explores some of the great issues and controversies that surround our Nation's founding document.”  “It was created for use by those interested in understanding our nation’s most important document.”  Articles address such issues as the right to die, the death penalty, right to bear arms, right of privacy, equal protection issues and First Amendment topics.  The articles link to opinions of related cases and other useful websites.

 Famous Trials  is also created by Doug Linder.  “The Web's most visited and most comprehensive collection of essays, images, maps, primary documents, links, and other materials pertaining to over fifty of the most famous trials of all time, from Socrates to Simpson.”  Mutiny on the Bounty (1792), Amistad Trials (1839), Mountain Meadows Massacre Trial (1875), Earp O.K. Corral (1881), Black Sox Trial (1921), Hauptmann (Lindbergh) Trial (1935), Charles Manson Trial (1970), Chamberlain “dingo” Trial (1982), O.J. Simpson (1995), Clinton Impeachment (1990) and Moussaoui (9/11) Trial (2006) are just a few of the trials covered. 

 For more websites created by Doug Linder can be found here.

From C-SPAN’s  website:

“Beginning Sunday October 4 at 9:00 p.m. and continuing through that entire week–each night at 9:00 p.m. — C-SPAN will present groundbreaking and unique programs on the Supreme Court. Featuring an original documentary production "The Supreme Court: Home to America's Highest Court" as well as an unprecedented collection of original interviews with 9 of the living current and former Supreme Court Justices, Supreme Court week will offer viewers a rare window into the Supreme Court and those that serve there.”

See a virtual tour of the Supreme Court, the justices on the current court, former homes of the court, or watch videos of interviews with the Justices and Supreme Court experts, all on the C-SPAN’s Supreme Court website.

This looks like it will be a good documentary.  Set your DVRs!

The Legal Workshop features short, concise articles written by scholars but for a generalist audience.  You can read the “short and sweet” version on the site, or for some of the articles, you can read the full law review version.  FREE.

Here is more information from a press release:

“A consortium of America’s most influential law reviews launched The Legal Workshop (www.legalworkshop.org ), a free, online magazine featuring articles based on legal scholarship.  The Legal Workshop features short, plain-English articles about legal issues and ideas, written by an author whose related, full-length work of scholarship is forthcoming in one of the participating law reviews.”

“It’s really the best of both worlds,” said Dahlia Lithwick, the Stanford Law alumnus who covers the Supreme Court for Slatein a highly influential column. “The general public can be better engaged with the latest thinking about the law while knowing that what they’re reading is serious scholarship; not just fad or opinion.”

Sort and read articles by topic, by legal journal title or month.  Some popular topics are Constitutional law, Bill of Rights, law and politics, law and economics, etc.

You can search the site using a search box on the page, post comments to articles and there is a RSS feed.

This week, the country celebrated the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in September of 1787.  Let’s look at some of the various web sites with United States Constitutional materials.

The Library of Congress has a United States Constitution page.  Resources include scanned images of a very early printing of the U.S. Constitution and links to other materials from the Continental Congress (1774).  More here.

The U.S. National Archives also has scanned images of the original Constitution and the Bill of Rights (1789).  View large images, download high-resolution images or just read the plain text transcript.  The transcription is of the original version of the Constitution has hypertext links indicating those sections that have been amended or superseded.

U. S. Senate has a web page devoted to the Constitution of the United States and includes side-by-side explanation of each sentence.  More on the Constitution can be found here.

U.S. House of Representatives has a copy of the Constitution, a list of Constitutional Amendments NOT ratified as well as links to other historical documents about our country.

United States Government Printing Office (U.S. GPO) -  Downloads from this site include the Constitution with the Declaration of Independence in pocket size and full size, list of the unratified amendments, and the Analysis and Interpretation edition which includes annotations of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that affect the Constitution.  http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/index.html

American Bar Association- U.S. Constitution   Here you can either click and display the articles and amendments one at a time or download a PDF copy of the entire Constitution.

For Fun and a Free pocket size Constitution book  - This site includes quizzes, crossword puzzles and word finds about the U.S. Constitution.  Request a free copy of the Constitution!

Here is a nice review of 3 web sites for researching federal legislative information.  I added the Thomas site because it is such a good site and also has RSS feeds.

1. Thomas (Library of Congress)- purpose of the site is to make federal legislative information freely available to the public.  Search for bills, Congressional Committee information, treaties, and other Congressional activity.  Recent additions include RSS feeds for the Daily Digest of the Congressional Record, the House Floor and the Senate Floor.
2.  GovTrack – “allows visitors to research pending legislation by subject area and by Congressional committee. It also allows you to set up bill tracking RSS feeds (with registration) and embed widgets such as for bill status updates. It also has a blog.”
3. OpenCongress (OC) "brings together official government data with news coverage, blog posts, and public comments to give you the "real story" behind what's happening in Congress. OC has a blog and a wiki.”
4. MapLight “is all about the money. Specifically, this site illuminates the connection between campaign donations and legislative votes. It links (a) bill text and legislative voting records, (b) supporting and opposing interests for each bill and (c) campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in State Politics.”

Read more about this review written by Jason Sowards at the RIPS Law Librarian blog.  

My previous post some months back also covered finding federal law on the web.