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

Because we have a right to see how the Police are treating the public they serve. If they are doing everything by the book, it shouldn't be a problem!

As a member of the ACLU's People Power in my town I am against cooperating with ICE in our state. I am asking you to please sign my petition urging the Orange County Board of Supervisors to reconsider their position on expanding their detention protocol and completely reevaluate their policy regarding their cooperation with ICE. This is not in the best interests of our state or our communities. Please read the full article here; http://voiceofoc.org/2017/05/oc-supervisors-expand-immigration-detention-in-county-jails/

Justice for Kristina Hickey! Now a 32 year old cold case. We request that the new Cook County State’s Attorney, Kim Foxx, fast-track Kristina Hickey’s cold case to the top of the list. It has been over two years since her convicted killer was exonerated and over 32 years since her murder. We cannot wait any longer for justice to be served for Kristina. KRISTINA’S STORY On the night of October 3, 1984, 15-year-old Kristina Hickey of suburban Park Forest was supposed to walk straight home after singing in a choir concert at Rich East High School. She never made it home that night. Instead, her body was found in the bushes by a department store near the school. She had been brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times. Her throat had been slashed, and it was clear from the disturbed dirt around her body that she had fought for her life. Kristina’s death devastated the community. She was funny, smart and loved by both her peers and her teachers. She hung out with the kids in her honors' classes as well as the kids in the smoking lounge and the kids in show choir. In short, Kristina charmed her way across the social "cliques" of high school with her generous nature and quick smile. On January 15, 1987, a young man was convicted of Kristina’s murder (Link: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-02-26/news/8701160000_1_sentencing-jail-cell-cook-county-judge) On February 11, 2015, the man who was convicted of Kristina’s murder, after serving 30 years in prison, was freed with help from the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield. His case is now one of many nationwide in which DNA evidence belatedly ruled him out as a suspect and unfortunately he has paid a heavy price. (Link to story: http://illinoistimes.com/mobile/articles/articleView/id:15109). COLD CASE So now Kristina Hickey’s murder is a 32 year old cold case and the killer or killers have a huge head start. We request the new Cook County State’s Attorney, Kim Foxx, to fast track Kristina Hickey’s cold case to the top of the list. It has been over two years since her convicted killer was exonerated and over 32 years since her murder. We cannot wait any longer for justice to be served for Kristina. Petition signers may also contact: Kim Foxx Cook County State's Attorney 69 W. Washington, Chicago, IL 60602 (312) 603-1880 [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/kimfoxx2016/