legal defense funds

(noun)

Legal defense funds provide funding for the legal defense for, or legal action against, individuals or groups related to their specific interests or target demographic.

Related Terms

Examples of legal defense funds in the following topics:

  • The Function of Interest Groups

    • Lobby groups work for a change to the law or the maintenance of a particular law and big businesses fund very considerable lobbying influence on legislators, for example in the U.S. and in the U.K. where lobbying first developed.
    • Legal defense funds provide funding for the legal defense for, or legal action against, individuals or groups related to their specific interests or target demographic.
    • This is often accompanied by one of the above types of advocacy groups filing Amicus curiae if the cause at stake serves the interests of both the legal defense fund and the other advocacy groups.
    • In cases such as public libraries, advocacy groups have been critical in lobbying for continued funding across the nation.

  • Interest Groups

    • Legal defense funds provide funding for the legal defense for, or legal action against, individuals or groups related to their specific interests or target demographic.

  • The Budgeting Process

    • Congress which recommends funding levels for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1.
    • Major categories of FY 2012 spending included: Medicare & Medicaid ($802B or 23% of spending), Social Security ($768B or 22%), Defense Department ($670B or 19%), non-defense discretionary ($615B or 17%), other mandatory ($461B or 13%) and interest ($223B or 6%).
    • Social Security spending increased versus 2011 while Defense, Medicare and Medicaid spending fell.
    • Social Security and Medicare are sometimes called "entitlements," because people meeting relevant eligibility requirements are legally entitled to benefits, although most pay taxes into these programs throughout their working lives.
    • Non-defense discretionary spending is used to fund the executive departments (e.g., the Department of Education) and independent agencies (e.g., the Environmental Protection Agency), although these do receive a smaller amount of mandatory funding as well.

  • Models of Bureaucracy

    • The Department of Defense has historically competed to seek more funding than other federal departments.
    • Bureaucratization for Weber was the key part of the rational-legal authority.
    • Many aspects of modern public administration go back to him and a classic, hierarchically organised civil service of the Continental type is called "Weberian civil service". [98] As the most efficient and rational way of organising, bureaucratisation for Weber was the key part of the rational-legal authority and furthermore, he saw it as the key process in the ongoing rationalisation of the Western society.
    • The Department of Defense is allocated the highest level of budgetary resources among all Federal agencies, amounting to more than one half of the annual Federal discretionary budget.

  • The Shifting Boundary between Federal and State Authority

    • Another concern is the fact that on more than one occasion, the federal government has threatened to withhold highway funds from states that did not pass certain articles of legislation.
    • Any state that lost highway funding for any extended period would face financial impoverishment, infrastructure collapse, or both.
    • More recently, the issue of states' rights has come to a head when the Base Realignment Closure Commission (BRAC) recommended that Congress and the Department of Defense implement sweeping changes to the National Guard by consolidating some Guard installations and closing others.
    • After Pennsylvania won a federal lawsuit to block the deactivation of the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, defense and Congressional leaders chose to try to settle the remaining BRAC lawsuits out of court, reaching compromises with the plaintiff states.
    • Oregon, the Supreme Court ruled that the practice of physician-assisted suicide in Oregon is legal.

  • Making Policy

    • Examples of cabinet departments include the Department of Defense, State, and Justice.
    • Ideally, they bring in enough funds to be self-sustaining.
    • To help them make ends meet, Congress may give government corporations a legal monopoly over given services, provide subsidies, or both.

  • The Cabinet

    • The secretary of state and secretary of defense play key roles in assisting the president with foreign policy.
    • This includes the secretary of state and the secretary of defense.
    • The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense, which is an Executive Department of the Government of the United States of America .
    • Secretary of Defense is a statutory office.
    • Because the Office of Secretary of Defense is vested with legal powers which exceeds those of any commissioned officer, and is second only to the Office of President in the military hierarchy, it has sometimes unofficially been referred to as a de facto "deputy commander-in-chief. " The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the Secretary of Defense and the President.

  • Defending the Nation

    • The United States has the largest defense budget in the world.
    • As of 2011, the United States spends about 550 billion annually to fund its military forces, and appropriates approximately 160 billion to fund Overseas Contingency Operations.
    • The United States has the largest defense budget in the world .
    • As of 2011, the United States spends about 160 billion to fund Overseas Contingency Operations.
    • The United States has the largest defense budget in the world.

  • The President

    • Presidents have more power and responsibility in foreign and defense policy than in domestic affairs.
    • After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush's Office of Legal Counsel argued that as commander in chief President Bush could do what was necessary to protect the American people.
    • Congress can react against undeclared wars by cutting funds for military interventions.
    • President Obama did not seek congressional authorization before ordering the US military to join attacks on the Libyan air defenses and government forces in March 2011.

  • The Sixth Amendment and the Right to Counsel

    • The Assistance of Counsel Clause in the Sixth Amendment allows to any person accused the right to counsel for his defense.
    • In the 2009-2010 term of the United States Supreme Court, it was handed down that a suspect's request for legal counsel is only good for fourteen days after the suspect is released from police custody.
    • The Assistance of Counsel Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense."
    • Brewer goes on to conclude that once adversarial proceedings have begun against a defendant, he has a right to legal representation when the government interrogates him and that when a defendant is arrested, "arraigned on an arrest warrant before a judge" and "committed by the court to confinement . . . there can be no doubt that judicial proceedings have been initiated."
    • In the 2009-2010 term of the United States Supreme Court, it was handed down that a suspect's request for legal counsel is only good for fourteen days after the suspect is released from police custody.