After being pulled over for a flat tire, Jagjeet was harassed and called a “terrorist” by Mississippi Department of Transportation Officers and falsely arrested for refusing to remove an article of the Sikh faith. But that was just the beginning of the injury to Jagjeet’s faith and rights. As an observant Sikh, Jagjeet Singh wears a turban at all times as a reminder and public declaration of his connection to God. But Judge Aubrey Rimes decided that the American justice system didn’t need to respect Jagjeet or his religion when he ordered Jagjeet be removed from the courtroom and said he wouldn’t let Jagjeet return until he removed “that rag” from his head. The United Sikhs have filed a complaint on Jagjeet’s behalf about Judge Rimes with the Department of Justice. But we can’t let the Department of Transportation officers off the hook for their reprehensible actions. Let’s send a message to Commissioner King and Director McGrath of the Mississippi Department of Transportation that the America we live in respects all persons and religions. Demand that the Mississippi Department of Transportation investigate and discipline the officers for their blatant and unacceptable religious discrimination.

I used to work at Carnegie Linen Services, a New York based industrial laundry. When we tried to organize with Workers United, we faced horrible attacks from our employer. The federal government found that Gary Perlson, owner of New York based laundry, Carnegie Linen Services, whose related companies contract for the Waldorf Astoria hotel, verbally abused my former co-worker Jose Luis Diaz after he refused a bribe of thousands of dollars to stop organizing with Workers United/SEIU. Perlson then threw hot coffee in Diaz’s face and terminated him. Carnegie Linen Services & Carnegie Valet Cleaning are Bronx-based industrial laundries with contracts for many New York hotels, including Carnegie Valet’s contract with the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. After a trial, the National Labor Relations board found Carnegie Linen Services guilty of violating federal labor law by “offering Jose Luis Diaz money to cease his union activity” “inflicting bodily injury on [him] in response to his union activities” and “discharging [him] because he assisted and joined Workers United and engaged in concerted activities” on November 7th 2009. Workers at Carnegie Linen Services make poverty wages and few benefits. Laundry work is difficult and dangerous work. *All information taken from 357 NLRB No. 188, Cases 2-CA-39560 and 2-RC-23436.

Because of issues of surveillance on innocent, law-abiding Americans, being more than just electronic, American's are increasingly under threat of additional violations of losses of free speech, freedom of association, freedom of religion, but most importantly, law abiding American's being free of intrusions of their privacy at home and simply walking down the street, associating with whomever they please, without apprehension of electronic, personal or remote (i.e., micro-drones and/or bugging of homes, workplaces, autos, etc.) surveillance, for no reason that can be justified, per FISA Court regulations...

"Organized stalking" according to Eleanor White is surveillance and harassment of a designated target by stalkers who are members of groups, which are networked. According to her: Why targets can hardly ever get public officials to take organized stalking as seriously as they do single stalker stalking. It is time for the anti-stalking laws of the early 1990s to finally be applied to organized stalking groups. Legislators should facilitate this by adding specific references to organized stalking, and related tactics, into the stalking laws.

In an interview on the morning on Friday, Oct. 4 with WHP-TV, Gov. Tom Corbett laughingly compared same-sex relationships to incest. Recently arguing against a county clerk who’d begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, lawyers for the state's Department of Health suggested that those couples were just like 12-year-old children in being ineligible for marriage, but Corbett told WHP-TV anchor Sherry Christian that incest would be a better comparison, saying: "I think a much better analogy would have been brother and sister, don’t you?" Sherry Christian rightly seemed stunned by the governor's comment. It is a shocking example of bigotry and the governor must apologize without delay!

Marriage equality is a civil right which is equated in our federal constitution. No one should have the right to vote for or against civil rights. Each state should follow the constitution and allow legal marriage equality. The polls show its acceptance and recent court actions prove it.

With the clock ticking down to the important state elections in November, Virginia is attempting to eliminate voters from the rolls who are also registered in other states -- ostensibly to stop "fraud." But Virginia city and county voter registrars have already noted a high error rate in the lists of voters identified by the state board of elections as registered to vote in other states. The purge could disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters and get them removed from the voter roles *without any warning to them whatsoever.*

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, Any Same-sex couple can now file joint tax returns, have the same names on their passports and Social Security cards..... The couple also wants their driver’s licenses to reflect their new last name and complete the same equal level of happiness in making a public statement about who they choose to spend the rest of their lives with. Please support me in letting our officials in charge know that this must change and we as equals support this, no I mean insist this CHANGE sooner than later.

I am starting this Petition because VETERANS exposed to AGENT ORANGE herbicides are being treated differently in regards to COMPENSATION AND MEDICAL CARE AND FUTURE DISEASES CAUSED BY THAT EXPOSURE. All veterans exposed to AGENT ORANGE must be treated equally as far as any laws currently ACTIVE like the AGENT ORANGE ACT of 1991 and the NEHMER LAW. No veteran exposed either presumptively or directly were unaware of any consequences of that exposure there fore EQUAL TREATMENT must be afforded to all exposed to THIS POISONOUS CHEMICAL.

Society speaks for itself. This need not replace prayer for many, but a 'Moment of Gratitude' allows each individual the freedom to reflect to whomever or whatever they feel is the need, while also, not just teaching to the young, but reminding us all the importance of gratitude. Susan

I request that the decision to dismiss me from ROTC be overturned and as a consequence the Department of the Army reinstate me as an ROTC cadet at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, so that I can receive my commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. I did not receive my rights to Due Process in the course of the investigation and board proceedings regarding the incident that made the basis of this action and that the punishment of disenrollment is overly harsh considering my stellar performance in ROTC. The disenrollment process at the University of PR ROTC battalion occurred approximately one month before my anticipated graduation and commissioning date. The Assistant Professor of Military Science (APMS) who was tasked with conducting an impartial inquiry into a single alleged instance of misconduct subsequently and surreptitiously included twelve (12) additional allegations of purported misconduct for the board’s consideration after then I, who was unrepresented by counsel, had been notified of only a single allegation of disrespect to an officer as the reason for separation. The Board subsequently assembled an incoherent and cursory record showing no consideration of any matters on my behalf. It is both unjust and in error to dismiss me from ROTC immediately prior to my commissioning date based on false allegations with little or no consideration given to my record of performance and ability to complete the remaining requirements to commission. As such, the separation should be overturned and I should be reinstated in ROTC. I joined the enlisted Reserve ranks in 2009 and performed drills with my reserve unit in addition to participating in ROTC. I took to the discipline and rigors well, excelling at physical training (PT), receiving accolades for improving swiftly at PT and volunteering to participate in the Ranger Challenge program. The next year I successfully completed Airborne School in September 2009 at Fort Benning, Georgia and the following summer in 2010 I earned my Air Assault badge. In my third year in the ROTC-SMP program I was awarded the Army Achievement Medal by my unit for my strength and determination in achieving a perfect score of 300 points on the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT), the highest score in my reserve unit. In the summer of 2011 I successfully completed the Leadership, Development, and Assessment Course (LDAC) required in order for all ROTC cadets commission as officers. In February 2012 I experienced what would turn out to be a career-altering disagreement with a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) at his reserve unit. In addition to losing drill pay, I received a Letter of Reprimand (LoR) in March 2012 from my reserve unit for the incident. I filed a rebuttal to the LoR and for the first time was able to render a sworn statement detailing what I went through on the day at drill duties, though there is no evidence in the record that anyone at the unit or my ROTC battalion considered the information I brought forth. On 2 May 2012 the Disenrollment Board convened and found that I had committed misconduct by “disrespecting a superior officer.” The only evidence that the Board considered was my responses to their questions and the documents provided by the PMS. Inexplicably, my cadet record also includes a series of duplicate disenrollment board memoranda dated in June 2012 that appear to indicate I waived myright to a board that had already occurred. It is unclear what information was provided to U.S. Army Cadet Command because the disenrollment decision memorandum from Cadet Command cites “frequent absences from military training,” and notably does not mention “disrespect to a superior officer,” as the basis for the action. The problems with the Board process are evident in the Cadet Command determination to disenroll Cadet Ruiz for “absences from training.” I was never notified in the Board process that this is what I had to defend against because this allegation is not contained in the 9 April 2012 board notification memorandum. It begs the question, what documentation did Cadet Command receive? It appears the disenrollment action may have been erroneously based on the June 2012 memoranda submitted by the PMS, which are dated after the Board’s recommendation came to him. Of note, the June 2012 paperwork appears to represent that I waived my right to a board entirely, and yet one was held in May 2012 and it did not find that the misconduct consisted of “absences from training.” The only remedy remaining to correct this injustice is to set aside the disenrollment action.

What is adoption? When a child is adopted, the adoption ends the legal relationship between that child and his or her birth parents and creates a new and legal family relationship with the adoptive parents. There are many different kinds of adoptions: Private, Interstate, Public Agency, and Family Adoptions. Then you have what is called an open or closed adoption. This is what tells how much the birth parents and adoptive parents share information about the child. Section 63-9-350: Withdrawal of Consent or Relinquishment states that the withdrawal of any consent or relinquishment of rights can only be undone by the order of the court. One must prove that the court finds that the withdrawal is in the best interests of the child and that the consent or relinquishment was not given voluntarily or was obtained under duress or through coercion. In South Carolina after the relinquishment of parental rights is signed you cannot go back and change your mind or any sort. Twenty-eight (28) states have laws providing a waiting period before relinquishment of parental rights is irrevocable. Multiple states have a set up time frame whereas the relinquishment of parental rights form may not be signed until so many days or hours after giving birth. South Carolina adoption laws need to be changed in regarding the time frame of a waiting period after signing the form. At least thirty (30) days should be in affect after signing relinquishment of parental rights before the form becomes irrevocable. Why is this so important to me? On August 18, 2012 I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named MacKenzie Grace. I was unaware of the pregnancy until I got to the hospital; I thought I had food poisoning. My parents had just dropped me off at college earlier that day this was my first time away from home, I did not know anyone, I was alone, and young (18 as of April). Within the three days I was at the hospital they had me sign a bunch of forms one of these forms were a relinquishment of rights form. This form took my rights as a mother away. I was unaware of the effects of signing this form and was unaware of any of the papers I was signing. My three day's in the hospital were 'blurry dreams', I am unable to remember much about those days. I started fighting for my child immediately after becoming aware of what happened. After three months I was granted a temporary hearing. At this hearing I was granted visitation for four hours once a week. I had to drive from my home three hours away and rent a hotel room for four hours all at my expense. September 5, 2013 we had our final hearing; it was a two day trial. The judge ended up making his verdict almost three weeks later. He sided with the people who were fighting me for my daughter. They will now be able to adopt her since I lost and will not be able to contest their adoption. I now need to raise money to get to the next court which is the Appellate court. This court will be the next action to fight for my daughter.