Government

Jo Freeman Reviews: This book features a selection of Ginsburg’s legal writing. In the first section, there is one appeals court brief and two transcripts of oral arguments before the Supreme Court. All on gender equality, they illustrate Ginsburg’s strategy of arguing cases where men were the legal losers in the belief that the court would be more sympathetic. Moritz concerned a section of the IRS code that allowed women, widowers and divorced men to take a tax deduction for the care of dependants. The plaintiff was a never-married man who was caring for his mother. Frontiero v. Richardson concerned the different standards for servicemen and women to get benefits for their dependent spouses. Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld challenged a portion of the social security law which permitted widows but not widowers to collect special benefits to care for minor children. more »

"I want to highlight two of the proposals that the Federal Reserve Board (the Board) sought feedback on in the September 2020 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to strengthen CRA regulations. Recognizing that many places in Indian Country have few bank branches and are located outside of branch-based assessment areas, the Board proposed that a bank in any part of the country could receive credit for eligible CRA activities in Indian Country, even when there is not a branch nearby. Banks need to be confident about receiving CRA credit to seek out activities and investments in these areas." "Here in Oklahoma, when looking at how the economic activity of tribes compares with different industries in the state, tribes would rank 9th in output, at over $7 billion, and 11th in job creation — greater than either the construction or utilities industries." October 13, 2021 Financial Inclusion and Economic Challenges in the Shadow of the Pandemic: A Conversation with Tribal Leaders Governor Lael Brainard At Fed Listens: Roundtable with Oklahoma Tribal Leaders, Oklahoma City… more »

"Jonathan and Diana Toebbe, both of Annapolis, Maryland, were arrested in Jefferson County, West Virginia, by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on Saturday, Oct. 9. They will have their initial appearances on Tuesday, Oct. 12, in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia. For almost a year, Jonathan Toebbe, 42, aided by his wife, Diana, 45, sold information known as Restricted Data concerning the design of nuclear-powered warships to a person they believed was a representative of a foreign power. In actuality, that person was an undercover FBI agent. The Toebbes have been charged in a criminal complaint alleging violations of the Atomic Energy Act." Department of Justice Public Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)National Security Division (NSD) more »

In January 2021, following a report from The New York Times that detailed a plot between Trump and Clark to use DOJ to further Trump’s efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, Durbin led the Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter to then-Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson calling on him to preserve and produce all relevant materials in the DOJ’s possession, custody, or control related to this plot. This kicked off the Committee’s eight-month investigation. The Committee continues to seek records requested from the National Archives and Records Administration, which have not yet been supplied, and continues to pursue interviews with relevant individuals as part of this ongoing investigation. more »