Author archives

Absence of Equality and Human Dignity Values Makes American Sentencing Systems Fundamentally Different from Those in Other Western Countries

Tonry, Michael, The Absence of Equality and Human Dignity Values Makes American Sentencing Systems Fundamentally Different from Those in Other Western Countries (February 23, 2016). 45 Crime & Justice, 2016; Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 16-08. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2736961 “Concern for equality and human dignity is largely absent from American sentencing. …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research

Google – Protecting the world’s news from digital attack

Google Official Blog: “The web is an increasingly critical tool for news organizations, allowing them to communicate faster, research more easily, and disseminate their work to a global audience. Often it’s the primary distribution channel for critical, investigative work that shines a light into the darkest corners of society and the economy—the kind of reporting …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Free Speech, Internet

The Rosa Parks Collection is Now Online

“The Rosa Parks Collection at the Library of Congress has been digitized and is now online. The collection, which contains approximately 7,500 manuscripts and 2,500 photographs, is on loan to the Library for 10 years from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The Library received the materials in late 2014, formally opened them to researchers in …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Education, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

GAO Reports – NASA Major Acquisitions Projects, Hospital Patient Safety

NASA: Preliminary Observations on Major Acquisition Projects and Management Challenges, GAO-16-461T: Published: Feb 25, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 25, 2016. Patient Safety: Hospitals Face Challenges Implementing Evidence-Based Practices, GAO-16-308: Published: Feb 25, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 25, 2016.

Subjects: Economy, Government Documents, Health Care

GAO reports on DHS HR IT failures

Homeland Security: Oversight of Neglected Human Resources Information Technology Investment Is Needed, GAO-16-253: Published: Feb 11, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 25, 2016: “DHS’s human resources administrative environment includes fragmented systems, duplicative and paper-based processes, and little uniformity of data management practices, which according to DHS, are compromising the department’s ability to effectively carry out its …

Subjects: Defense, Government Documents, Knowledge Management

GAO Audit of US Government Consolidated Financial Statements finds material weaknesses

Financial Audit: U.S. Government’s Fiscal Years 2015 and 2014 Consolidated Financial Statements, GAO-16-357R: Published: Feb 25, 2016. Publicly Released: Feb 25, 2016. “To operate as effectively and efficiently as possible and to make difficult decisions to address the federal government’s fiscal challenges, Congress, the administration, and federal managers must have ready access to reliable and …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

The Graying of American Debt

New York Fed – The Graying of American Debt – “The U.S. population is aging and so are its debts. In this post, we use the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel, which is based on Equifax credit data, to look at how debt is changing as baby boomers reach retirement age and millennials find …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

Majority of Public Wants Senate to Act on Obama’s Court Nominee

Pew – “In the high-stakes battle over replacing Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, a majority of Americans (56%) say the Senate should hold hearings and vote on President Obama’s choice to fill the vacancy. About four-in-ten (38%) say the Senate should not hold hearings until the next president selects a court nominee. Most …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Dept. of Energy Notice – Protection of Human Subjects in Classified Research

Via Steven Aftergood – Secrecy News – “The Department of Energy last month issued new guidance on the conduct of classified scientific research involving human subjects. While all human subject research is governed by federal regulations, the new DOE policy imposes several additional requirements whenever such research is to be performed on a classified basis. …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, Energy, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

GPO and LC to make bill status info in XML format available in bulk data repository

“The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has partnered with the Library of Congress (LOC) to make bill status information in XML format available through GPO’s Bulk Data repository on govinfo (www.govinfo.gov) for the 113th and 114th Congresses. Bill status information, which is created by LOC and Congress, describes the activities and status steps for each …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries

CompStat 2.0 provides New Yorkers with crime data from throughout the city

“This page displays the NYPD crime statistics as recorded in the CompStat book. CompStat periods run Monday through Sunday. All figures reflect statistics from the end of the most recent CompStat period. Geographic coordinates are mapped to the nearest intersection. This data is subject to change as complaints are investigated. Crime data is provided in …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research

WaPo – Obama nominates African American woman to be Librarian of Congress

“President Barack Obama will nominate the head of the Baltimore public library to be the 14th Librarian of Congress, the White House announced Wednesday. If confirmed, Carla D. Hayden will be the first woman and the first African American to hold the position. She would replace James Billington, who retired last year after 28 years …

Subjects: Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

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