Opinions
Maintaining Essential Services in the District of Columbia in the Event Appropriations Cease
When the District of Columbia is otherwise prohibited by law from spending its appropriation, the District’s Mayor is authorized under the Antideficiency Act to expend moneys necessary to maintain government services bearing a reasonable relationship to the safety of human life or the protection of property.
Under provisions of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, the President has authonty to employ the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Force for purposes he deems necessary and appropriate where he has declared the existence of emergency conditions.
The President has inherent constitutional authority to use troops or police to preserve such order in the District of Columbia as may be necessary to protect federal property and functions.
Applicability of Appointment Provisions of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 to Incumbent Officeholders
Provisions of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 requiring appointment by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate for certain positions within the Department of Justice do not affect the tenure of incumbent officeholders who were appointed by the Attorney General.
Authority of the Customs Service to Seize or Forfeit Property Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881
The Customs Service does not have independent authority to make seizures or forfeitures pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881. Accordingly, the Customs Service should seize or forfeit property pursuant to that section only under the supervision of the Drug Enforcement Administration and by direct or derivative designation of the Attorney General.
The proceeds of property forfeited after a seizure by the Customs Service must be deposited in the Customs Forfeiture Fund, rather than in the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund, when the seizure was made under a law administered or enforced by Customs, or custody was maintained by Customs, regardless of whether the forfeiture was handled by Justice.
Applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) to President-Elect’s Transition Team
The one-year bar in 18 U.S.C. § 207(c), which prohibits certain former government employees from contacting the agencies where they worked, applies to persons who serve on a presidential transition team while receiving a salary from a private employer.
The bar in 18 U.S.C. § 207(c) does not apply to members of a presidential transition team who support themselves from their own resources or are compensated solely from appropriated funds.
Legal Issues Raised by Proposed Presidential Proclamation to Extend the Territorial Sea
The President has the authority to issue a proclamation extending the jurisdiction of the United States over the territorial sea from three to twelve miles out.
The President also has the authority to assert the United States’s sovereignty over the extended territorial sea, although most such claims in the nation’s history have been executed by treaty.
There is a serious question whether Congress has the authority either to assert jurisdiction over an expanded territorial sea for purposes o f international law or to assert the United States’s sovereignty over it.
The domestic law effect on federal statutes of the extension of the territorial sea is to be determined by examining Congress’s intent in enacting each affected statute.
The extension of the territorial sea will not affect the Coastal Zone Management Act.
Reimbursement of the Internal Revenue Service for Investigative Services Provided to the Independent Counsel
To the extent that Internal Revenue Service agents detailed to an independent counsel perform work that is related to the type of work for which the IRS receives its appropriations, the detail falls within an exception to the general rule against non-reimbursable details. Reimbursement by the independent counsel is appropriate for work performed by the detailed agents that is not IRS-related.
Application of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to HIV-Infected Individuals
In the non-employment context, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act protects symptomatic and asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals against discrimination in any covered program or activity on the basis of any actual, past or perceived effect of HIV that substantially limits any major life activity—so long as the HIV-infected individual is “otherwise qualified” to participate in the program or activity.
Section 504 applies in substance in the same way in the employment context. Subject to an employer making reasonable accommodation within the terms of its existing personnel policies, the symptomatic or asymptomatic HIV-infected individual is protected against discrimination if he or she is able to perform the duties of the job and does not constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of others.
Whether a Federal Prisoner Worker is an “Employee” Within the Meaning of Certain Federal Statutes
A federal prisoner worker is not an “employee” within the meaning of section 23 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, section 312 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977, or section 3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Restrictions on Grants to Religious Organizations That Provide Secular Social Services
The Establishment Clause of the Constitution does not require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to deny grants to religious organizations that engage in religion-based employment discrimination or to deny grants for rehabilitation, reconstruction, or construction of facilities that are owned by religious organizations.
Department of Housing and Urban Development prohibition on use of grant funds for religious counseling or use of grant funds to provide services in a facility in which sectarian or religious symbols are displayed is not more restrictive than the Establishment Clause requires.
GAO Access to Trade Secret Information
Section 301(j) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 prohibits the Food and Drug Administration from providing the General Accounting Office with access to trade secret information submitted by drug manufacturers to the FDA.