For decades, California has underfunded mental health services. As a result, the criminal justice system often serves as the state’s default mental health provider, with jails and prisons filled with people suffering from mental illness. In addition, an estimated 10% of law enforcement agencies’ budgets – and 20% of staff time – are spent responding to individuals with mental illness. A direct consequence of our overreliance on law enforcement responses to mental health crises is that almost a quarter of all people killed in police-involved shootings since 2015 had a known mental illness, with black men dying at a disproportionate rate. Between when Derek Chauvin’s trial started and his conviction for the murder of George Floyd, 64 people died at the hands of police. More than a dozen of them had a known mental illness or were in the throes of a mental health crisis. In 2019, Miles Hall, a 23-year-old black man living in Walnut Creek, was in the midst of a schizophrenic mental health crisis when his family called 911 for help. Despite being familiar with Miles’ condition, the officers resorted to lethal force within a minute of their arrival. Law enforcement officers are not mental health experts and should not be expected to serve this role. A better system for Miles and all Californians is possible – one that leads with treatment, not law enforcement. Last year, the federal government established “988” as the new 3-digit alternative to 911 for mental health crises. Callers to 988 will be connected with around-the-clock support, including mobile crisis teams that can respond to the scene with trained mental health professionals and peers rather than law enforcement. If California does not act now, the state will lose critical federal support and funding. Please urge California lawmakers to pass, and Governor Gavin Newsom to sign, Assembly Bill 988 (Bauer-Kahan) – also known as the Miles Hall Lifeline Act – to implement the 988 system in California and take concrete steps to reduce shootings where mental health is involved. AB 988 will ensure that we respond to a health crisis with a health response.

We, the undersigned, are shocked and disheartened with the rampant bullying and harassment happening in the Teays Valley School District. The daily reports coming home from students range from verbal abuse, cyberbullying, to physical attacks and sexual harassment. This is unacceptable! Teachers and administrators have been made aware and nothing has changed. Either the incidents are ignored, complaints brushed aside, or the perpetrators are not dealt with seriously enough to deter future incidents. Consequently, the bullies are learning that they can act with near impunity. The victims are learning that their voices do not matter. Are these the lessons Teays Valley wants to instill in their students? We, the undersigned, value Teays Valley School District. For many, it was a significant factor in choosing where to move. For others, there is the pull of tradition and family ties that keep them here. There are many strengths to our district. Sadly, diversity is not one of them. However, we do have students who represent marginalized groups. Students of color deserve a safe school. Neurodivergent students deserve a safe school. LGBTQ+ students deserve a safe school. Students of different religions – or no religion- deserve a safe school. Those who advocate for their fellow students deserve a safe school. There is absolutely no excuse to tolerate bullying and harassment of them! We now call on Teays Valley administration to actively engage with students and parents to assess the hostile environment currently in place and develop an action plan to ensure every student is safe.

Atlanta. Boulder. Indianapolis. These have been just the high-profile mass shootings that grabbed national headlines over the last few weeks. In fact, the United States has averaged more than one mass shooting a day so far in 2021. And as the pandemic unfolded in 2020, gun violence rose dramatically with over 19,000 people killed in shootings and firearm-related incidents. Tragically, who is harmed by gun violence has often been determined by race, ethnicity, or gender. People of color -- and everyone -- deserve to be safe. While we mourn the recent shootings, we must also fight the explosive combination of guns, racism, misogyny, and white supremacy to reduce the likelihood of such tragedies recurring. The U.S. House has passed gun legislation to tighten background checks on gun sales, and now it’s up to the U.S. Senate to turn it into law. Tell the U.S. Senate to act against gun violence now and pass universal background checks.

The Cincinnati NAACP and many organizations adamantly oppose the advancement of House Bill-22 (Expansion of Obstruction of Justice) because it is an arbitrary law proposal that will give more power to law enforcement to selectively penalize citizens. This bill allows police to increase the penalty of Obstruction of Justice up to a Felony against citizens simply exercising their right to free speech. The expansion of Obstruction of Justice is not only unnecessary but counter-productive to ongoing efforts toward better police and community relations. The current law reads as follow: ORC. 2921.32 OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE states: “No person, without privilege to do so and with purpose to prevent, obstruct, or delay the performance by a public official of any authorized act within the public official’s official capacity, shall do any act that hampers or impede a public official in the performance of the public official’s lawful duties.” There is no evidence of an increase in citizens impeding and preventing officers from performing their official duties. The current law as it stands is sufficient and addresses all acts that prevent, obstruct, or delay the performance of a public official. Adding failure to follow a lawful order and diverting the attention of a law enforcement officer will only broaden the scope in which law enforcement can penalize Ohioans. It is also extremely punitive to charge concerned citizens with the same level offense the accused is being charged. This regressive measure will only create more low-level felons in an already exhausted correctional system. HB-22 will lend more opportunity for police abuse of power, leaving citizens vulnerable and their rights exploited. Legislators and law enforcement who believe in our free society should never support a bill like this that attempts to thwart and penalize law-abiding citizens who exercise their rights to observe and record interactions with police and the public. If citizens witness police misconduct and have reasonable objections, the answer is not to create laws to penalize those good Samaritans, the answer instead, should be, to seek laws that welcome accountability and discourage police misconduct. Similar to the concerned citizens who witness police misconduct that led to the murder of George Floyd, they were within their rights to record the incident as evidence. As taxpayers, it is our right to freely approve and disapprove of Police conduct. Our inherit freedoms should not be left to the mercy of an officer whose tolerance levels could be biased. If HB-22 is made into law, it would only lead to more abuse of power that is subjective and discriminatory. Law Enforcement Officers receive first class, taxpayer funded training that provides an abundance of skill sets on how to work under pressure. We should not have to lower the bar and include unnecessary measures to Obstruction of Justice for trained professionals. Lawmakers must stop using every opportunity to strip away the freedoms and rights of citizens just to further empower a government agency that already lacks meaningful measures of accountability. If HB-22 becomes law, it will have a negative impact on peaceable citizens that could potentially face severe criminal charges for exercising their basic rights provided and protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Again, we are asking you to join us in opposing this bill by signing this petition to show lawmakers that you do not support HB-22 and demand the members of the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee DO NOT ADVANCE THIS BILL out of their committee. Below are the hyper link email addresses to each member of the Ohio Statehouse Criminal Justice Committee. Please also send emails and feel free to use the points above for reason why the bill should not pass: EMAIL ADDRESSESS OF OHIO LEGISLATORS BELOW: CC: Jeff Lare District 77 R- email: [email protected] DJ Swearingen District 89 R- email: [email protected] Cindy Abrams District 29 R- email: [email protected] David Leland District 22 D- email: [email protected] Willis E Blackshear Jr District 39 D- email: [email protected] Sedrick Denson District 33 D- email: [email protected] Tania Galonksi District 35 D- email: [email protected] Adam C Miller District 17 D- email: [email protected] Phil Plummer District 40 R- email: [email protected] Sharon A Ray District 69 R- email: [email protected] Jean Schmidt District 65 R- email: [email protected] Bill Seitz District 30 R- email: [email protected] Andrea White District 41 R- email: [email protected]

Amazon knew exactly what a unionization win by its Bessemer workers would mean: It would have paved the way for more organizing across the country and built power for the working class, who have been exploited to enrich the ultra wealthy time and time again. It’s why Amazon used every union-busting tactic in the book (and even pioneered new ones!) to stop the organizing effort. To prevent a few thousand workers from unionizing, one of the richest companies in the world: hired a Koch-backed anti-union consultant, sent up to 5 harassment texts a day to workers, forced employees to watch anti-union videos, changed the stoplight by the warehouse so organizers couldn’t hand out union flyers to drivers, offered $2,000 severance checks for workers to quit, retaliated against pro-union workers, collaborated with the USPS to put up a fake dropbox for the union votes—and more. These union-busting intimidation tactics aren’t isolated to Amazon—giant corporations have used these and more throughout history to fight back against working people organizing for living wages and better working conditions. If the PRO Act were law right now, Amazon wouldn’t have been allowed to engage in these sorts of repressive anti-organizing tactics, and would be held accountable for union-busting. But since it isn’t, there’s a real risk that other corporations will see what Amazon did in Bessemer and replicate it around the country. Thanks to union members who fought and died to build power for the working class, some workers have weekends off, an 8 hour work day is the norm instead of 12, and kids aren’t forced to work. Unions are good for workers: They protect workers from exploitation, they bring fairness into the workplace, they allow employees to have a say in the workplace policies that affect them, and they win fair wages and protections for all workers, including working mothers, Black, brown and disabled workers, as well as undocumented immigrant workers who are especially at risk for facing exploitation and unsafe working conditions on the job. Giant corporations and the ultra-wealthy, like Jeff Bezos, know that a unified working class will hold them accountable for their anti-worker tactics, abuses, exploitation, and greed. That’s why we need the PRO Act, which would allow the National Labor Relations Board to impose monetary penalties against employers who violate workers' rights, empower collective action and worker strikes, ensure that employees are not misclassified as independent contractors, and eliminate “right-to-work” laws, a relic of the Jim Crow era designed specifically to separate workers and undercut collective bargaining rights. Every Senator who cares about protecting working people from exploitation and intimidation by corporations like Amazon needs to co-sponsor the PRO Act immediately, so we don’t see a repeat of the shameful behavior by Amazon anywhere in the country ever again.

Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by police officers, while she was sleeping in her apartment. She was only 26. Today, none of the three officers who fired into her home have been charged in her death. Now, they are now seeking fame and profit over Breonna's name and memory. The book, which is titled “The Fight For Truth: The Inside Story Behind the Breonna Taylor Tragedy" is a brazen attempt to rehabilitate the image of Mattingly, who still has his job and has never served time. Breonna has already lost her life due to the actions of this officer. She will never be able to tell her story. Mattingly shouldn't either.

The time is now for our legislature to pass meaningful, common sense laws that will hold police accountable and make our families safer. The killings of George Floyd and Daunte Wright were not an anomaly. Police brutality is a real issue that disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous, people of color and low income people in Minnesota and across our nation. In Minnesota alone, there have been over 400 deaths from police brutality since 2000. The torture and killing of George Floyd in eight minutes and 46 seconds is perhaps one of the worst police brutality cases in our nation's history. This happened here, in our state, in our community. And the recent killing of Daunte Wright on the night of April 11 was another example of grotesque, unaccountable police violence. Daunte was shot dead just minutes after being pulled over for allegedly hanging air fresheners in his rearview mirror. In this moment as the entire nation and world watches Minnesota, we have an opportunity to lead the nation by passing pragmatic laws to promote safety, justice, transparency and accountability. Courageous Minnesotans are currently standing up for justice for all and peaceful protestors are demanding accountability and common-sense laws. Today, we are asking Minnesotans to demand Justice for George Floyd and all Stolen Lives by passing the following bills during this year's state legislative session. The bills would : End the Statute of Limitations for Lawsuits for Wrongful Deaths Caused by Police (HF 717, SF 2021) Strengthen Civilian Oversight (HF 640) End Police-Only Responses to Mental Health Crisis Calls (HF 1686, SF 1924) End Qualified Immunity (HF 1104, SF 580) Independent Investigatory and Prosecutory Body for Police Critical Incidents End Prosecution for Reporting Police Misconduct (HF 2201) End No Knock Warrants (HF 1762, SF 2139) Require Police to Carry Professional Liability Insurance (HF 440, SF 815) Require Access to Body Worn Camera Footage in Police Critical Incidents within 48 Hours (HF 1103, SF 807) A growing coalition of community groups including Communities United Against Police Brutality, Minnesota Disability Justice Network, Minnesota Justice Coalition, Racial Justice Network, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence and Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Minnesota demands police accountability and an end to police violence.

There are a number of reasons why remote access to meetings should be preserved. First, it allows more people to attend meetings. This method has been necessary and is overdue - to remove it is discriminatory. There are those who cannot physically attend meetings for myriad reasons. Lack of transportation, caregiving, illness, age, etc. can all keep folks from in-person attendance. Second, following CDC guidelines in the meeting room means that attendance will be limited and, therefore, that fewer folks will be able to participate. To have meetings with only physical attendance and a limited number of attendees diminishes the public's ability to participate in decisions that involve them. Neptune had a hybrid meeting style in place. Third, NJ is still a highly at-risk state in terms of Covid infections. As of 9 April 20, cases were up 20% from a month ago. Monmouth County has the fourth-highest number of new cases. The Covid Tracker at the NY Times, updated on 10 April 21, states, "Monmouth County is at an extremely high risk of exposure to Covid-19." With these facts in mind, the reality is that there are those who will neither be able nor choose to participate because of health concerns. To deny the public remote access to meetings is exceedingly undemocratic and, at this time, medically unsafe.

We must all Stop Florida from becoming a citizen suppression state like what is happening in Georgia. Stand up for freedoms, stop voter suppression, and support citizen voices.

Gaetz has gone far to evade accountability for the things he’s done, so far that he sought a preemptive pardon for himself and other members of Congress for any crimes they committed, and though he didn’t get it, the investigation on him began under the Trump administration’s Department of Justice that was led by Bill Barr at the time, who abused his power by acting as Trump’s personal lawyer and covering up his many crimes. Gaetz’s predatory behavior is not new: While he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, he showed other lawmakers nude photos of women that he claimed he slept with, he created a game to score “sexual conquests” that gave points for targets like interns, staffers, or other women colleagues, and he voted against a bill aimed at preventing people from sharing explicit photos of their ex-partners online. Gaetz, like his idol Trump, is a sexual predator. Not to mention that in 2020, Gaetz spewed baseless lies about the legitimacy of the election, which subsequently incited the storming of the Capitol by white supremacists, which he then called a false-flag operation by the left. Then, he and the GOP Treason Caucus refused to hold Trump accountable for obstruction of justice in the first impeachment trial, objected to certifying the 2020 election results, and even refused to hold Trump accountable for inciting a deadly insurrection in the second impeachment trial. Now, Rep. Gaetz is under federal investigation for sexual misconduct and sex trafficking a child. There is no room in Congress for a misogynistic sexual predator like him. That’s why we must take action to demand that Matt Gaetz resign from Congress, NOW!

After defending police officers who pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old girl, Rochester police union president Mike Mazzeo is now refusing to condemn officers who just attacked a mother and her toddler—including some of the same officers involved in pepper-spraying the 9-year-old. These are the latest incidents in a pattern of horrific police violence against Black people in Rochester, and Mazzeo has consistently worked to deflect accountability for police officers, excuse their conduct, and shift blame to city leaders. Mazzeo’s message to Rochester police officers is clear: use reckless violence against Rochester’s Black residents, and I will defend you, no matter the impact or consequences of your actions. In just a few months in Rochester, we can see how Mazzeo’s actions have excused police violence against Black people in the city: • In September, Mazzeo defended the officers who mocked, suffocated, and killed Daniel Prude, saying they did nothing wrong. • In January, Mazzeo defended the officers who abused and pepper sprayed a terrified, crying 9-year-old girl. • Just weeks later, Rochester officers viciously attack a mother and her girl after falsely accusing the mother of shoplifting—and Mazzeo has refused to condemn it, or push for any kind of accountability. If Mazzeo can excuse this kind of horrific police violence and remain the leader of the police union, it paves the way for Rochester police to continue committing acts of violence against Rochester residents, and makes achieving accountability for police and the enactment of necessary reforms nearly impossible. Mike Mazzeo has to go. Please join us in calling on Rochester’s Mayor, Chief of Police, City Council members, and Police Accountability Board to force Mazzeo’s departure, now.

Dr. Birx shared on CNN that in her estimation only 100,000 people should have died from this virus. If things had been mitigated properly 100s of thousands of lives could have been saved. The American People deserved to know the truth during the pandemic and STILL deserve to know the truth now. He caused unneeded hardship, emotional toll, debt and death to people unnecessarily.