Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

You Are Here: Home » Archives: September 2017

Daily Archives: September 4, 2017

Paper – Congressional Control of Presidential Pardons

by on

Reynolds, Glenn Harlan, Congressional Control of Presidential Pardons (August 25, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3026884

“Though the president’s pardon power is plenary, many questions remain. To what extent may Congress, via legislation, regulate the president’s pardon power? Though it is well established that the power is plenary, does that insulate the pardon power from any Congressional regulation at all? And if the answer to this is “no” – and it is – then what sort of Congressional regulation is permissible? I address those issues in this short Essay, while offering some suggestions for regulating, or at least regularizing, the pardon power in ways that I believe are within Congress’s power.”

See also previous postings on this subject: CRS – Presidential Pardons: Frequently Asked Questions – Along with news updates

Value of Coastal Wetlands for Flood Damage Reduction in Northeastern USA

by on

The Value of Coastal Wetlands for Flood Damage Reduction in the Northeastern USA. Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 9463 (2017). “As exposure to coastal hazards increases there is growing interest in nature-based solutions for risk reduction. This study uses high-resolution flood and loss models to quantify the impacts of coastal wetlands in the northeastern USA… Continue Reading

Examining the Alternative Media Ecosystem through Production of Alternative Narratives of Mass Shooting Events on Twitter

by on

Examining the Alternative Media Ecosystem through the Production of Alternative Narratives of Mass Shooting Events on Twitter, Kate Starbird, University of Washington, HCDE. [email protected] “This research explores the alternative media ecosystem through a Twitter lens. Over a ten-month period, we collected tweets related to alternative narratives—e.g. conspiracy theories—of mass shooting events. We utilized tweeted URLs… Continue Reading

Bulk Downloads of Congressional Data Now Available

by on

“Using the ProPublica Congress API, developers can access details on each of the thousands of bills introduced in every two-year session. But they used to have to download those details one bill at a time, and be able to write API calls in software code. Now you can download information on all of the bills… Continue Reading

Federal Criminal Prosecutions Fall Under Trump

by on

Transactional Records Access Clearinghous: “Despite tough talk on cracking down on crime from the President and from Attorney General Sessions, actual criminal prosecutions and convictions secured by federal prosecutors have dropped. The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during the first ten months of FY 2017 federal criminal convictions were down 12.3… Continue Reading

NYT Investigative Report – Incarcerated Women Who Fight California’s Wildfires

by on

The Incarcerated Women Who Fight California’s Wildfires By choice, for less than $2 an hour, the female inmate firefighters of California work their bodies to the breaking point. Sometimes they even risk their lives. “California’s inmate firefighters choose to take part in the grinding and dangerous work they do. And they get paid for it,… Continue Reading

Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill

by on

NRDC: “In 2012, NRDC published a groundbreaking report that revealed that up to 40 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten. That is on average 400 pounds of food per person every year. Not only is that irresponsible—it’s expensive. Growing, processing, transporting, and disposing that uneaten food has an annual estimated cost of… Continue Reading

Review of new long form movie on New York Public Library

by on

the guardian: “Ex Libris: New York Public Library review – the restless mind of the city. [5/5 stars] A treasured US institution opens itself to the painstaking view of fly-on-the-wall master Frederick Wiseman, who finds enlightenment, humour, compassion and soul within its walls… Ex Libris: New York Public Library has the drive of a vociferous… Continue Reading