Rule 534 will apply to all mental health-related communications between clients and their licensed counselors, alcohol and drug counselors, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists and doctors, nurses, psychoanalysts, physician assistants, and midwives, the vast majority of which are totally unaware of the contents or import of Rule 534. Rule 534 will deter people from seeking mental health or addiction treatment, from confiding in their treatment providers, and creates terrible national precedent for all mental health providers and clients. Rule 534 creates a complex scheme containing 13 exceptions to mental health provider-client confidentiality. Its four pages of legalese will confound therapists’ ability to obtain their clients’ informed consent for treatment. The Rule 534 confidentiality exceptions will undermine mental health providers' ability to establish therapeutic trust and chill mental health providers' ethical obligations to advocate on behalf of their clients. Rule 534 was praised by lawyers and condemned by mental health providers. In written testimony to the NJ Supreme Court, Professional Mental Health Counselors and Clinical Social Workers uniformly condemned Rule 534: "would 'compromise client confidentiality' and deter people from going to social workers;" "if a therapist told a patient all of the legally required exceptions, the patient would terminate the counseling session;" "would discourage mental health treatment;" "creates a 'confusing array of additional exceptions that are not currently in place;'" "will be interpreted 'very loosely' so as to allow confidential information to be disclosed;" and, ""it will create more lawsuits." One of the most egregious provisions causes a client to lose confidentiality for all time if the client asks the provider to provide written or oral testimony in any proceeding, such as an unemployment, benefits, child protection, or disability proceeding. Clients will lose all confidentiality protection in a civil suit for damages that resulted from conduct that constitutes a crime. This will chill, for example, people with gambling, drug, or alcohol addictions, that have stolen from their employers, families, stores, or other third parties, from seeking mental health help to curb their dysfunctional behaviors. Clients may also lose confidentiality if they have ever told a third, non-spouse, party about their mental health condition or treatment. The beneficiaries of Rule 534 will be the lawyers who will be able to obtain adverse parties’ mental health information and use that mental health information in settlement negotiations or in courtroom trials. Please share this petition with friends, family, professional and consumer organizations, and anyone else that has an interest in promoting access to confidential mental health and drug and alcohol treatment. Advocate for health clients and professionals by contacting your NJ State Senator’s, NJ State Representative’s, and Governor Christie’s offices.

The Democratic National Convention's Platform Committee will prepare the platform stating the Democratic Party's stance on a wide range of policy issues. [1] For example, it is likely to state the party's stance on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement [TPP], and could state whether a vote on the TPP should occur in a lame duck session of Congress after the election. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have stated their opposition to a lame duck vote on the TPP. [2] To ensure that the Democratic Party Platform reflects the views of the majority of Democrats, it is crucial that Bernie Sanders supporters be fairly represented on the Platform Committee and the Rules Committee. Urge Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to work with Sen. Jeff Merkley and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva to ensure fair representation for Bernie Sanders supporters on the Platform Committee and the Rules Committee by signing our petition. References: 1. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1f5a37abda654bfdad8b53309d36b475/sanders-wants-supporters-represented-party-convention 2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-does-not-back-obama-trade-vote-in-post-election-congressional-session/2016/05/05/ce94f76e-12d7-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12_story.html

Voting machines have been proved over and over again to be anything but perfect. Votes can be recorded incorrectly or not all by malfunctioning machines. Confirmation screens and paper receipts let voters know that their votes are being counted and correctly. Confirmation screens and paper receipts can also help catch malfunctioning machines so they can be taken offline before even more votes are incorrectly recorded. At my polling place in Pickens County on February 27th, 2016, there was no accountability from the machines used for the primary election. Through contact with the local election board it was revealed that such machines are being used across the state of SC. Voters deserve to know their vote was cast correctly and should be provided with machines that provide confirmation screens and receipts. In SC, an Independent running presidential candidate must gather 10,000 signatures to be added to the state ballot. We hope to reach at least that many signatures of SC residents to present this petition to the election board.

Since he was appointed in 2012 by Governor Jerry Brown, Mr. Chet Widom has repeatedly violated the law that says he cannot decrease access standards that were first enacted in California in 1981. These early access standards set a high level of accessibility that greatly shaped the Americans with Disabilities Act. As someone who has represented the disability community for 40 years in California’s development of access standards, I have never witnessed such blatant violations of law. Nor have I ever seen such a shut-out of the disability community from any meaningful participation in the development of state regulations - regulations that impact the daily lives of people with disabilities. Please sign this important petition!

Help us show how strong the support for Bernie Sanders is in District 34 and that our representatives need to reflect the will of the people! We are a growing permanent movement of progressive organizers who believe that Bernie is advocating for whats best for america, marginalized communities, working class families and the world! It's time to show our elected officials that we are sick and tired of establishment candidates and if they don't change then we will remember when election time comes!

I should have the right to control what I do to my body since I am legally an adult in this state, I should not feel nannied by my state.

The State of Hawaii is not doing its job to uphold the Doctrine of Public Trust which guarantees public access rights to this historic trail running along the coast of Kauai. The trail is owned in fee simple by the State of Hawaii. Illegal, unpermitted fences and barricades have gone up by land owners Patricia Hanwright, the Wilcox family, and others which block the public from using this trail. These land owners are attempting to privatize this large stretch of Kauai's coastline by taking the public trail, which does not belong to them. Persons attempting to use the trail have been harassed and threatened. We are asking that the State of Hawaii immediately take steps to assert its fee simple ownership of this trail AND to guarantee perpetual public access to it.

Testing -- Test -- please punt this to staff

We are starting this petition because every candidate deserves equal treatment. No candidate for public office should be treated unfairly as it is a violation of the freedom of speech. Oppressing any candidate is violating every voter.

The American Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against people with disabilities in their decision to hire them. Currently, at least 5 offices on campus are unable to hire people in wheelchairs, due to the inaccessibility of the office--employees would not even be able to enter Landis House, much less use the bathroom or enter offices. Numerous studies have found that people with disabilities experience much higher rates of sexual assault and domestic violence, and are also less likely to report due to lack of access to resources. Currently, Dickinson College community members in wheelchairs do not have the ability to seek support for assault or abuse through the Prevention Education and Advocacy Center, or support for discrimination through the Women's Center, Office of LGBTQ Services, or Popel Shaw Center for Race and Ethnicity. Please show Dickinson that it is a TOP PRIORITY to make Landis House wheelchair accessible. Also, according to this website, it should cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand to make a wheelchair ramp, something that it seems reasonable that Dickinson could find within their budget. http://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/environmental-safety/build-a-disability-ramp/

I adopted a Chinese baby girl when I was a green card holder. I started her immigration papers after I became a U.S citizen a few years back; the U.S embassy in China denied her green card visa. I then applied for citizenship for her in 2014, and it has been with administrative processing for almost two years. Stop the unnecessary delays / separation and let us be together!

At 19 years old, Robert Chambers was shot in the back of the head by deputy Steven Glidden of the Houston County Sherrif's office. With mounting evidence of police misconduct and a cover up, civil rights attorneys for Robert's mother, Sharese Wells, have filed paperwork to bring this case to trial. There were fingerprints that were never analyzed, a gun that didn’t match up to reports and another possible suspect in the burglary he was a suspect in, among other inconsistencies. By his own admission, Glidden says he didn’t see a gun on Chambers as he ran. Please sign this petition asking Loretta Lynch and GF Peterman of the Department of Justice to bring civil rights or criminal charges against the officer so that Robert's loved ones can have a chance at justice.