When Trump gave a speech encouraging police to brutalize suspects, the crowd of officers laughed and cheered. Police departments and law enforcement officials across the country responded by condemning Trump’s comments. But the Fraternal Order of Police -- the largest police union in the country -- defended Trump. So did the leader of Cleveland’s police union. Dozens of police unions across the country have remained completely silent, while their police chiefs speak out. Only two police unions have said anything that even comes close to disagreeing with Trump’s comments -- and their statements were weak and made excuses for Trump. Police unions have a long history of defending cops who brutalize, kill, and abuse their power. They fight against common sense reforms and any kind of accountability for police. Now, on top of that, they’re sending a dangerous message to the police officers that make up their membership -- that cops should be even more violent than they already are. It threatens the communities that police are sworn to serve and protect, and it puts officers themselves in more danger by further eroding trust in police. By calling them out, we can expose how police unions are cheerleaders and enablers of police brutality, and one of the biggest enemies of police accountability and reform. It’s the first step to reducing their political power, their ability stop the common sense policing reforms we desperately need, and their practice of shielding officers who brutalize, kill, and break the law.

On January 1, California, Maine, and Massachusetts joined the growing list of states that legalized recreational marijuana. Yet, Attorney General Jeff Sessions just announced that he will end the current policy of federal non-interference, so that the Justice department could crack down on marijuana in states where it has been legalized for recreational use. For decades, the failed War on Drugs has locked up millions of nonviolent drug offenders, especially for marijuana-related offenses. This has wasted human potential, torn apart families and communities, and squandered massive sums of taxpayer dollars. That's why I introduced the Marijuana Justice Act to call for the legalization of marijuana at the federal level. If passed into law, the Marijuana Justice Act would have an immediate impact on our criminal justice system, policing, our communities, and even the economy. This legislation would remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances, making it legal at the federal level. The bill would also incentivize states to change their marijuana laws if those laws are shown to disproportionately affect low-income individuals and/or people of color. The Marijuana Justice Act would be applied retroactively for those already serving time for marijuana-related offenses, providing for a judge's review of marijuana-related sentences. That means that we could reduce our prison population—a goal that Democrats and Republicans alike have claimed to support. Add your name to show your support for national marijuana legalization. State governments have, so far, led the way in reforming our failed drug policy and in beginning to fix our criminal justice system. Unfortunately, the federal government isn't doing its share—and Sessions, among his many offenses, is working actively to undermine the progress in this area. We can't let Sessions roll back our progress, criminalize more Americans, and terrorize our communities by doubling down on failed drug policy.

Our Country has been in turmoil since Trump took office. The last thing we need now is a blatant firing of Mueller thwarting the investigation and causing a Constitutional crisis not unlike and possibly worse than the Nixon/Watergate scandal of 1973. The Senate must stand up to Trump and his bullying ways.

Laws that silence full grown child sexual abuse survivors who have only recently acquired the maturity, self awareness, and fortitude of personal esteem in order to share their stories, must be amended. State Statute of Limitations laws protect serial predators from prosecution while stifling their victims. There is no good reason for this baffling, archaic rule. No good reason at all.

This is inhumane! People are crying out for help. St Louis, Missouri, and Texas jails: We are paying attention! Your jails need air conditioning now. Subjecting someone to extreme temperatures is inhumane and a form of torture.

On June 18, 2017, in Seattle, Washington, 4’10” tall, thirty-year-old, mother of four, Charleena Lyles called 911 reporting that she believed someone had burglarized her residence. Seattle Police Officers Jason Anderson and Steven McNew were sent to investigate. Moments after they arrived they shot and killed Ms. Lyles in front of her four children. Ms. Lyles weighed less than 100-pounds and was three months pregnant. The officers reported that Ms. Lyles was holding a knife and claimed they felt threatened by that. There was no earnest attempt to negotiate with her first or to pursue non-lethal options (e.g.: taser), there was no option exercised to injure her with a gunshot to the knee or foot. Instead, seven bullets entered her body, including two to her back. There was immediate intent to kill and end her life, not just deter her. The Prosecuting Attorney for Martin Luther King, Jr. County has jurisdiction over this case and will decide whether or not the officers will be face charges in the murder of Charleena Lyles. Dan Satterberg is the elected County Prosecuting Attorney. We, members of Seattle’s communities of African descent, initiate this petition to Mr. Satterberg demanding he takes swift and decisive action to hold Jason Anderson and Steven McNew accountable in the murder of Charleena Lyles. We invite our families, allies, and friends around the world to sign in solidarity. ==================================== Dear Mr. Satterberg: We begin by reminding you of statements from your 2016 State of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office speech (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqzFp5C_FCg&index=3&list=PLKgFT3iD4B6ljswxnHfqF8sIUDf0-Zu-9). You stated: • the core mission of your Office is “to do justice” and, “when someone has done something to harm the community, to hold them accountable.” • the core function of your Office is accountability • you and your staff are committed to partner with the community to define what the term ‘justice’ means in the context of the present • it is your Office’s responsibility to hold a person accountable for harm they do to the community and reduce the impact that person is going to have on the community in the future. • all of society’s most complicated issues come to your doorstep. • prosecutors can either see their function to defend the status quo, or as agents of reform. Being a leader requires being an agent for reform. • just because wisdom is slow to arrive doesn’t mean you should ignore it when it does. • being a part of Martin Luther King, Jr. County “compels us to do extraordinary things, to be inspirational”. • together, working with the community “we have the power to define justice, to define a system that reflects our best values and aspiration for our kids”. • around the nation, people are looking to the King County Prosecutor’s Office to see what’s good, what’s possible. • “We need to build bonds of trust with the community. We need to ask the community ‘what do YOU mean by justice’”. Based on your assertions, we call on you to take swift and decisive action to hold Jason Anderson and Steven McNew accountable in the murder of Charleena Lyles. These two men relied on the presumed safety of their badges to kill a woman in crisis. Letting them go without grave, life altering, consequences leaves our communities vulnerable to others who hide their violence behind badges. Our families are being terrorized by police officers who put their safety above the safety of the community, their fear above the security of our citizens. With impunity, they violate their oath to protect and serve us. We are unprotected by our gender, size, disability, vulnerability, or innocence. Our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are routinely and obviously violated without consequence. 4’10” tall, pregnant, Charleena Lyles is just the latest example. Her death destabilizes the already-precarious circumstances of her children. The ripples of her death touch the other families in her immediate community, the children who attend school with her children, every child of a Black parent struggling with poverty, and every Black parent struggling to give their child a sense of agency in their own lives. The cumulative, long-term, impact of this murder undermines all the internal work we do to encourage and inspire one another. You are aware of the historic inequity in how the law has been applied against our communities. Your office has done important work to undo some of that inequity. We, as citizens, have given you the duty and power to serve as the guarantor that justice prevails. You have asked us to help you define that word in a present context. Justice, in this case, demands that you will: • proceed with charges against these men regardless of the findings of the coroner’s inquest • charge these men with murder, and not a lesser charge • vigorously prosecute them at trial • immediately schedule an open meeting with our community to discuss your intended process and timeline for holding these men accountable for Charleena Lyles murder Justice demands that the consequences of Mr. Anderson’s and Mr. McNew’s actions will be so dire that: • no officer will take the use of their gun for granted again. • no officer will ever again shoot someone out of their own fear. • officers will, instead, hesitate and put their own lives at risk before they decide to kill someone who is, themselves, in crisis. • officers will understand that they are accountable to all of their fellow citizens. We are aware that your Office relies on police and sheriffs to carry out your day-to-day work. We realize this puts you and your staff in a difficult position. We ask you not to be bullied but to do the courageous and inspirational thing that Dr. King’s legacy compels. This is a moment in history where you and your team can show nationwide leadership as agents of reform. In your speech, you urged your staff to connect with their humanness. We call on ...

Social Action Linking Together (SALT), a faith-based advocacy group of more than 1200 members, is opposed to the death penalty primarily because it advances vengeance rather than justice. SALT is in solidarity with Pope Francis on this matter of opposing the death penalty, and, in opposing the death penalty, we embrace the sound moral reasoning of Pope Francis, which you will find below. In a message released in June 2016, Pope Francis made a statement regarding the death penalty that includes these comments: 1) “It (the death penalty) does not render justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance.” 2) “It is an offense to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person; it likewise contradicts God’s plan for individuals and society, and his merciful justice.” 3) “Punishment for its own sake, without room for hope, is a form of torture, not of punishment.” 4) Pope Francis also noted that rendering justice “does not mean seeking punishment for its own sake, but ensuring that the basic purpose of all punishment is the rehabilitation of the offender.” 5) Francis, in addition, made clear that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” applies both for the innocent and to the guilty…”

It is UNconstitutional to bar a minor's right to sue when they become the age of majority, 18 plus 2 years. The Texas Supreme Court needs to reverse their decision to uphold the minor of repose and cancel out a minor's right to sue if it's been more than 10 years!!!!The statute provides that minors under the age of 12 have until their 14th birthday to file a claim. This has been declared unconstitutional. It is generally believed that the two-year statute of limitation for minors will not begin to run until they reach 18 years of age. The TEXAS Supreme Court used to protect minor's rights! Although the statute says that the two-year time period begins to run against minors at age twelve, the Texas Supreme Court held that similar language in the predecessor statute was unconstitutional, allowing those whose claims accrued before their eighteenth birthdays to sue at any time until age twenty! Now the TEXAS Supreme Court has upheld the statue of repose that bars a minor from suing once they turn 18. This is unAmerican and should still be held unconstitutional! Tort Reform is a conflict of interest that supports the medical community, NOT the citizens. Tort reform caps have not saved doctors any money except in less settlement owed to their injured patients. They have a duty to DO NO HARM!! It has just allowed them to practice without regard to duty of care. Please stop the injustice of the Texas Statute of Repose and reverse the law so a minor may still have a right to an Open Court and I support Justice Lehrmann dissent on the ruling in 2014! The open courts provision of the Texas Constitution ensures that all litigants receive the opportunity to redress their grievances and receive their day in court. Tex. Const. Ann. art. 1, § 13; Odak v. Arlington Mem’l Hosp. The statue of repose violates this provision! Our children deserve their day in court and their voices to be heard!!

Chicago has a serious problem with violent and unaccountable policing, and one of the biggest obstacles to accountability and reform is the Fraternal Order of Police, and their contract with the city. Police should not be above the law, but provisions in their contract have allowed them to assault, brutalize, and kill Black people without any real consequence.The epidemic of police violence and corruption will continue until we change the rules and hold the police accountable like everyone else.

For the immediate restoration of Voting rights for Ex-Felons upon completion of their sentence

Those who have been working for decades on criminal justice reform and prison reform stand united in opposition to the Trump administration's plan to invest in mass incarceration for all offenders, non-violent and violent offenders, while ignoring the needs of crime victims and communities. Restorative Justice International, a national and global association, supports an investment in victims-driven restorative justice, which will recognize the needs of crime victims while holding offenders accountable. We are committed to moving forward, not backward.

The Francis family received a letter from the Arkansas Parole Board inviting Brian Francis to come speak to this issue on June 9, 2017