UHLC Nota Bene

Bloomberg BNA has just published the 2016 edition of the U.S. International Tax Guide ( KF1276.A2H47 ), which is now available in the law library . This handbook is an excellent source for U.S. tax attorneys involved in international tax. It provides an overview of topics related to general principles of international taxation, taxation of foreign persons' U.S. activities and U.S. persons' foreign activities. Matters pertaining to U.S. income tax treaties, and withholding and compliance are also discussed. There are numerous examples available throughout this book that will illustrate international tax concepts. There are also annotations to relevant primary sources of tax law including the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, tax cases, administrative pronouncements, and the Internal Revenue Manual. This source is also available electronically on BloombergLaw.com .

Want to learn more about the upcoming presidential and congressional transitions? There’s an app for that.  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently launched its Priorities for Policy Makers app (available free of charge for iPhone or Android), which is intended to “help President-elect Donald Trump and the next Congress tackle critical challenges facing the nation, fix agency-specific problems, and scrutinize government areas with the potential for large savings,” according to Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the GAO. The app allows users to search by agency or topic, and provides brief summaries of relevant issues as well as links to more detailed GAO reports.  You can also find GAO priority recommendations on the agency’s Presidential and Congressional Transition web pages.

Back in February, President Obama issued an executive order establishing the Federal Privacy Council (FPC), defined as “the principal interagency forum to improve the Government privacy practices of agencies and entities acting on their behalf.” Given the amount of private information handled by the federal government—everything from medical records to income tax returns—it makes sense for agencies to coordinate their efforts to keep that information secure.  From a legal researcher's perspective, one of the more interesting developments to come out of the FPC is the creation of its Law Library , a compilation of laws, regulations, and supplemental materials pertaining to “the creation, collection, use, processing, storage, maintenance, dissemination, disclosure, and disposal of personally identifiable information (PII) by departments and agencies within the Federal Government.” The Law Library's resources are not new—the site consists mostly of links to other government w...

The Law Library’s subscription to HeinOnline now includes a new resource in its collection of over fifty resource groups for primary and secondary legal sources: Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture, & Law . This collection brings together a vast array of legal content and materials related to slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery.  Beyond these primary legal materials the collection every English-language legal commentary on slavery published before 1920 and more than a thousand pamphlets and books on slavery from the 19th century. The collection also word searchable access to all Congressional debates from the Continental Congress to 1880 along with many modern histories of slavery.  Edited by Paul Finkelman, an expert on slavery and American legal history, the colle...

At election time, I am time and time again surprised at the number of judicial races Texas voters decide. While direct election of judges by popular vote in Texas is nothing new, what happened to create so many courts and so many judges in the state? Here is a brief history of how these many courts and judges came to be, and links to the original sources. 1836 : In the 1836 Constitution of the Republic of Texas, allowed for the creation of three district courts, and allowed for up to eight. District judges also served as associate judges of the supreme court. 1845 : As Texas joined the United States, the 1845 Constitution of Texas held that the governor would appoint judges to the district and supreme courts. An amendment made during the 1845 constitutional convention to allow for direct election of judges failed to pass. 1850 : Following a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to allow for popular vote, 75% of Texas voters approved the amendment and dire...

Not surprisingly, much of the focus of the 2016 election has been on the presidential race.   However, in addition to electing federal, state, and local leaders, citizens in many states will also be making specific choices about a number of important topics when they go to the polls next week.   According to the Ballotpedia website, statewide ballot measures will be considered in 35 states this year and will affect 205 million people.   The ballot measures cover a broad range of important, and often controversial, issues such as the legalization of recreational marijuana, establishing universal healthcare programs, and increased background checks for gun sales.  To explore other state ballot measures, visit the Ballotpedia website, where you can browse through them by state or by topic.  

Looking for a new way to stay up to date on emerging legal issues?  You might try the Talks on Law app, which provides access to video interviews with prominent attorneys and law professors, who discuss a variety of legal topics in an easy to understand format.  The app is the companion to the Talks on Law website , which provides access to 30 minute talks as well as short 5 minute briefs on topics such as bioethics, constitutional law, criminal law, and election law.  For instance, there are talks regarding abandoned DNA , government surveillance , regulating guns , and gerrymandering .  All of the talks are free for anyone to view, but for a fee you can also earn CLE credit for the videos (currently available in New York, California, Illinois, and Arizona). The app is free to download and available for iOS devices.  To learn more about the app, visit the app store or the Talks on Law website .