Government Resources

"When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion." C. P Snow

The Congress

The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution
by Linda R. Monk
Would national identity cards impose on our liberty? Did the Supreme Court really "choose" George W. Bush as our president? Do campaign contribution caps infringe on our freedom of speech? The US Constitution is the basis for rights and in legal and political debate. But how many understand the language? Monk takes us through the Constitution, line by line, to help us comprehend. From the Preamble, to each amendment, insight, legal expertise, surprising facts and trivia, opposing interpretations, and historical anecdotes.

Huey Long -- To his constituents, he was a populist hero. To his critics, he was the unscrupulous "dictator of Louisiana" who didn't break the law, but used the law to achieve his own ends. A towering figure on the political landscape, Louisiana's infamous governor and United States senator may well have wound up in the White House, had he not been felled by an assassin's bullet in 1935. Long was the inspiration for Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the King's Men (a film version of which earned Broderick Crawford an Academy Award). As this fascinating documentary by Ken Burns ( The Civil War , Baseball , Jazz ) vividly illustrates, truth is even more compelling than fiction. Originally broadcast on the award-winning PBS series The American Experience , Huey Long painstakingly charts Long's inexorable rise to power. Archival footage and interviews with Louisiana natives, politicians, family members, historians, and political colleagues bring Long to thundering and bombastic life. --Donald Liebenson

New Constitutional Order by Mark V. Tushnet
In his 1996 State of the Union Address, President Clinton announced the "age of big government is over." Clinton was stating an observed fact: the emergence of a new constitutional order in which the aspiration to achieve justice directly through law has been substantially chastened. Tushnet examines the Supreme Court decisions that reflect it. Tushnet discusses the impact of globalization on domestic constitutional law, in international human rights and federalism.

Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy Richard A. Posner
A liberal state is a representative democracy constrained by the rule of law. Posner argues for a liberal state based on pragmatic theories of government. He views the actions of elected officials as guided by interests rather than by reason and the decisions of judges by discretion rather than by rules.

Top Secret: National Security Agency (1998) VHS

Investigative Report: Impeachment -- A look at rancor and turmoil in Washington, and how it led to the impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton.

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Watch for new True Crime books as they are published!

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America ..."

Cut-Rate Diplomas, the government's résumé fraud scandal.

Liberty in the Balance: Security Collides with Civil Liberties

NewsHour: Federal Agencies - White House - Military

Government Agencies

Legal

Freedom of Information

Abbreviations and Acronyms of the US Government

Whistle blower Resources

Timelines

FirstGov.gov -- The official gateway to US government information and services.

Documents of Democracy

The Constitution of the United States of America

Protesting for Civil Rights in the U.S. and Northern Ireland: A Personal Reminiscence by Katherine Stuart van Wormer

The goal of Public Citizen's Civil Justice Program is to ensure that consumers are protected and public health and safety are maintained through a fair and accessible court system. This requires an affirmative legislative program to remedy corporate practices such as arbitration clauses and secrecy agreements; and opposition to legislation which would roll back consumer rights.

The Congress (1988) PBS -- US Congress, an American institution whose ideals and actions affect us all. Historic film footage and interviews with "insiders" including David Broker, Alistair Cooke and Cokie Roberts to detail Congress' first 200 years. Chronicles the extraordinary careers of Congress' most notable members. It charts the growth of the Capitol building and features readings from diary entries, letters and famous speeches that shaped Congressional history.

Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution by Richard Brookhiser -- The creators of our democracy had both the temptations and the shortcomings of all men, combined with the talents and idealism of the truly great. No Founding Father demonstrates the combination of temptations and talents so vividly as Gouverneur Morris. He drafted the Constitution, and his hand lies behind many of its most important phrases. Morris's story is one of the most entertaining and instructive of all. He was a witty, peg-legged ladies' man. He was an eyewitness to two revolutions (American and French) who joked with George Washington, shared a mistress with Talleyrand, and lost friends to the guillotine. He gave New York City its street grid and New York State the Erie Canal. In his private life, he suited himself; pleased the ladies until, at age 57, he settled down with one lady; and lived the life of a gentleman. He kept his humor through war, mobs, arson, death, and accidents that burned the flesh from one of his arms and cut off one of his legs below the knee.

The Federalist Papers from the inception of the Constitution to contemporary America.

The Bill of Rights Creation --The Bill of Rights, passed by Congress September 25, 1789, ratified December 15, 1791, plays an active role in 20th-century legal discourse. 19th and 20th-century events and ideas have organized our legal thinking to see certain features of the Bill of Rights while overlooking others.

Organize to Bring Back the Bill of Rights -- With Congress caving in to the assault on the Bill of Rights, Americans have to safeguard their Constitutional protections.

DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dept. of Social Services, argued in the Supreme Court of US, is an introduction to how the Socratic method works in a first year Constitutional Law class in law school.

US House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary

Brian Burke represented Milwaukee in the state Senate for 14 years and co-chaired the Legislature's mighty Joint Finance Committee, the first target of criminal charges from a John Doe probe in the summer of 2001. He was joined by the Legislature's (former) most influential players. Democrat: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala; and Republicans: Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen; Assembly Majority Leader Steve Foti, Assistant Majority Leader Bonnie Ladwig.

The Israeli "art student" mystery -- 100's of young Israelis falsely claiming to be art students haunted federal offices. January 2001, the DEA began to receive reports that young Israelis offering artwork for sale were attempting to penetrate DEA offices, law enforcement and Department of Defense agencies.

Political Corruption -- A Collection of Links on politics and political corruption in relation to financial scandals.

TRKC Inc. specializes in working with data on political money moving to and from the national political arena.

50States Project -- An independent investigation of the conduct of legislators - uncovering abuses of the public´s trust.

State Net -- Delivers vital data, legislative intelligence and in depth reporting about all pending bills and regulations in the 50 states and Congress.

National Association of Counties -- There are 3,066 counties in the US. 48 states have operational county governments. Connecticut and Rhode Island are divided into geographic regions called counties, but they do not have functioning governments. Alaska calls its counties boroughs and Louisiana calls them parishes.

Roll Call -- Since 1955, Roll Call has been the newspaper of Capitol Hill, giving Congress a platform to communicate across the aisle and between chambers. Roll Call Report Syndicate is a gateway to accountability in Congress.

Congressional Accountability Project -- Working against corruption in the US Congress.

Congress Online: Assessing and Improving Capitol Hill Web sites

National Conference of State Legislatures -- Provides access for state legislators and staff to legislative policy reports, current and past legislation, state statutes, and 50-state surveys.

Well-Founded Fear -- The law says you can offer asylum if someone has a well founded fear of persecution. INS reveals the nearly impossible task of trying to know the truth.

Citizen Works -- Nonpartisan organization, strengthens citizen participation in power.

Campaign Finance Information

Annotated Bibliography of Government Documents -- Related to the Threat of Terrorism & the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Congress Should Stand Up to the Federal Reserve -- The Federal Reserve acts as a separate government. The Board sets its own budget and operates off the billions of dollars collected in buying and selling government securities. The spending is not subject to a formal Congressional review. The Federal Reserve picks and chooses what laws it follows. It claims it is not subject to the Civil Rights Act or provisions outlawing job discrimination.

Ashcroft´s political tenure in Missouri

The Impeachment & Trial of William Jefferson Clinton

The federal investigative records prove the existence of an FBI cover-up into the apparent murder of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster.

Electronic Guide to Mexican Law

Crime Mapping (Studies in Crime and Punishment, V. 8.) by G. David Garson, Irvin B. Vann

Crime Control and Policy: Globalization and National Context by Tim Newburn

Secret White House Tapes Everyone knows of the "eighteen minutes of silence" that lead to Nixon's disgrace and downfall. Investigative Reports; was granted extensive access to the historic recordings made by seven presidents, many heard here for the first time. They offer a look at the defining moments of the 20th century. Hear Franklin Roosevelt discussing a Japanese threat to Hawaii fourteen months before Pearl Harbor. Listen as John Kennedy manages the most dangerous nuclear showdown in history during the tense moments of the Cuban Missle Crisis. And hear Lyndon Johnson privately admit there was no way to win in Vietnam before committing 180,000 American troops to the war.

April 1, 2005

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"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, Supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Amendment IV, The Bill of Rights (1791 - 2001)

Government & Policy Magazine Subscriptions

Commercial Satellite Imagery and United Nations Peacekeeping: A View from Above

Today's Deals

When popular Tennessee State Senator Tommy Burks is murdered, suspicion falls on political opponent Byron "Low Tax" Looper.

Dark Days At The White House: The Watergate Scandal and the Resignation of President Richard M. Nixon

American Justice: High Crimes and Misdemeanors
It is one of the most difficult and controversial undertakings of the government the decision on whether or not to oust a sitting president as a result of his misdeeds. In a look back at the occasions where Congress has convened to decide the fate of the Commander in Chief. The story of Andrew Johnson, the only President ever impeached. Then, the odyssey of Nixon and Watergate. See how other cases never got as far as impeachment hearings, and examine the reasons why many say the procedure for removing the president should be rethought.

"20th Century with Mike Wallace - Washington Scandals: Sex, Money, Power" -- Turn on the television or pick up a newspaper and you're almost certain to see a story out of Washington often it's the details of a public figure's private life. But there was a time when personal problems didn't appear in the news. Then, with one bizarre incident, the floodgates opened, and political coverage has never been the same. The personal foibles were the undoing of powerful men such as Wilbur Mills, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, whose affair with stripper Fanne Foxe turned Washington upside down. Vice President Spiro Agnew's fall from grace, and revisit the self-destruction of presidential candidate Gary Hart in 1988. From the Teapot Dome to the newest generation of beltway crooks and philanderers, this is a sweeping look at the seedy history.

Government Intelligence Agencies: Crime and Detection
by Charlie Fuller

The FBI (Watts Library(tm): US Government & Military) by Brendan January

Crime & Politics: Big Government's Erratic Campaign for Law and Order
by Ted Gest
Why has America experienced an explosion in crime rates since 1960? Why has the crime rate dropped in recent years? The inside story of how crime policy is formulated inside the Washington beltway and state capitols, why we've had cycle after cycle of ineffective federal legislation, and where promising reforms might lead us in the future.

Government Intelligence Agencies: Crime and Detection
by Charlie Fuller

Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Endangered America's Long-term National Security
by Robert Patterson
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert "Buzz" Patterson was a military aide to President Clinton from May 1996 to May 1998 and one of 5 individuals entrusted with carrying the "nuclear football"-the bag containing the codes for launching nuclear weapons. Patterson offers how the President and the First Lady, and their staff, treated the military. He questions Clinton's decisions to send troops to Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and Bosnia to accomplish non-military tasks.

Top Secret: National Security Agency (1998) VHS

True Crime Book Watch! Watch for new True Crime books as they are published!

Copyright Kari Sable Burns 1994-2006

True Crime Book Watch!

Watch for new True Crime books as they are published!