The leading cause of railroad-related deaths is not collisions or derailments, but trespassing, explains a neatly argued new issue brief from the Congressional Research Service. See Rail Safety Efforts Miss Leading Cause of Fatalities, CRS Insights, April 2, 2015.
Other new and newly updated CRS reports that Congress has withheld from public distribution include the following.
Net Neutrality: Selected Legal Issues Raised by the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order, April 6, 2015
Ballistic Missile Defense in the Asia-Pacific Region: Cooperation and Opposition, April 3, 2015
An Overview of Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas: Resources and Federal Actions, April 7, 2015
U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production in Federal and Non-Federal Areas, April 3, 2015
Marijuana: Medical and Retail — Selected Legal Issues, April 8, 2015
Social Media in the House of Representatives: Frequently Asked Questions, April 2, 2015
The No Fly List: Procedural Due Process and Hurdles to Litigation, April 2, 2015
This report serves as a landscape assessment and toolbox from which local governments can negotiate an informed position when it comes to the levers available to them and includes a first-of-its kind analysis of eight executed community benefits agreements.
When a hurricane hits, it’s all hands on deck – that goes for federal data, too. Pulling back from our investments in timely, accurate, and accessible public data will only make us less prepared and put us all at greater risk.
This is bigger than a singular elimination of race and ethnicity questions. It could accelerate the second wave of widespread reductions to demographic data, leaving public health officials with even less information to deliver better health outcomes for all Americans.
Soft law was never meant to be a permanent solution. Treating it as one, and letting the sandcastle stand in for the skyscraper indefinitely, is how we end up with a decade of voluntary commitments and no enforceable accountability to show for it.