With over 2 million inmates, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Higher than any dictatorship, theocracy or persistent violator of human rights. This shameful incarceration rate will never come down so long as there is profit to be made by incarcerating people. End the profit motive for incarceration. Join the fight to ban private for-profit prisons.

Because I have been a battered woman on several occasions and they just go to jail and then make bail and back on the street and next thing you know back beating another woman this have to stop we have lost a lot of woman due to domestic relations and (douglas Antoine Rudy haynes)is the prime example of that cause he have been charged but never convicted of domestic and then since the female name Monique Johnson his pose to be Babymama but fail to take a paternity test to prove it was so scared of Douglas aka sipp that he threatened her to go down and drop charges and I didn't know this man from a can of paint and he was nice at first but then turned into the haulk literally and I mean he beat me so badly that he punched me one time before and it knocked me out cold for atleast three minutes this man have to be stopped cause he is gonna kill one of these females and I'm doing this not only for me but for other woman in this world also cause he comes off like he is just this sweet and innocent person and then he turns your life into a living hell please Americans help sign this petition and put a stop to his anger and hating woman

Pope Francis raised many issues and concerns in his address to Congress. But he made one specific demand: global abolition of the death penalty. The fact that the U.S. maintains the death penalty is a huge obstacle to global abolition. China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt can hide behind the U.S.: why shouldn't we have the death penalty? The U.S. has it. The fact that the federal government maintains the death penalty is a big obstacle to state abolition. Why shouldn't we have it, Texas can say. The federal government has it. Conservative columnist George Will has said it's time for the U.S. to quit the death penalty. Many Republican Members of Congress agree. Let's force the issue now, while the Pope's speech to Congress is still fresh in public memory. Urge Congress and President Obama to stand with Pope Francis to abolish the death penalty, by signing our petition.

Tim Eyman's sleazy and corrupt tactics to promote initiatives in Washington state have finally been called into question by the state's election watchdog, the Public Disclosure Commission. The PDC unanimously ruled on Thursday that Eyman has laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is an extremely serious charge that could lead to fines or criminal charges. Now, it is up to Attorney General Bob Ferguson to investigate Eyman's misuse of campaign funds and lay down a charge, if any.

I am starting this petition because the one who murdered my mother Darlene Knox, August 18th of 2003 is up for a parole hearing next September of 2016. She has missed out on so much in the past 12 years, and never even got to meet her 4 grandchildren. It hurts everyday that she is not here, and Roger A. Toothaker needs to pay for the horrific thing he did, not only to my mother,but her family and friends. She was a loving and amazing person as you all may know, and had a heart of gold. This should never have happened. When I go up in front of the board next year, at the hearing, they will have read this, and what everyone says on here about her. Please sign this, and comment what you would like to tell them! Thank you all!

Andre is a remarkable person. He was severely depressed after childhood abuse and the difficulty of prison life. With a little encouragement and kindness , Andre took hold and pulled himself out of his deep hole . Now his future is bright with his fiancee and wonderful plans, IF we let him have it. Please do all you can to see he is released.

When Randy was approved for parole in 2007, it was as a new parole chairman, Alfonso Graham, was coming in, who felt too new to parole Randy and gave him a defer. He still sits in prison 8 years later. His wife waits. This man has served 34 years! He truly deserves a second chance.

I have known Rufus West for over 15 years. He has transformed himself in those years. He was angry and seriously mentally ill and often in trouble with prison staff and has become mature and wise . He often mentors the younger prisoners. The judge sentenced him to 28 years knowing he would be elegible for parole after 7 years. At that time, the intent of the parole statutes was honored and prisoners who could show themselves rehabilitated were released shortly after serving 25 percent of their sentence. That he is still in prison after all these years is a true outrage.

Hector Cubero is one of the thousands of Wisconsin prisoners who are in prison not on a new felony, but because of a rule violation. He tatooed a minor who lied about his age and produced lots of affidavits from other minors who attested that he did not tattoo them. Hector has proven he can be a contributing member of society and we as taxpayers want to see overcrowding alleviated and more treatment and programs not this unnecessary waste of resources .

It turns out the company that brought us the Beetle, the flower-powered microbus and “Fahrvergnügen" is also a cheater. The good news: The EPA and other government officials acted quickly to investigate and order a recall, and VW has agreed to stop selling new diesel car. But are you thinking what I’m thinking? Didn’t GM just get away with what critics called a slap on the wrist for hiding a fatal ignition-switch defect linked to at least 174 deaths? The company faces no criminal charges and will pay a $900 million fine — out of $156 billion in revenue last year alone — and that's after we bailed out GM with $50 billion in taxpayer funds. This must change. Tell Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice and Congress to hold Volkswagen accountable for threatening our health and safety. If you want VW, GM and other major corporations held accountable when they break the law and endanger the public’s health and safety, please sign this petition. Our friend and ally Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety has a saying about GM: “There’s no problem too big that money can’t solve.” It’s time to stop letting big corporations buy their way out of accountability. Let’s stand up to these powerful interests and fight for our health and safety. NOTE: Facing public pressure, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn's recently resigned. So we will be delivering this petition to Volkswagen headquarters in Herndon, VA.

To the New Orleans City Council and Mayor Landrieu: Each year, thousands of men, women and children enter the Orleans Parish criminal justice system. 85% of them are appointed a public defender. Most are charged with nonviolent offenses and many enter the system with undiagnosed and untreated illnesses and addictions. All are supposed to be presumed innocent, however, two-thirds of all arrested remain imprisoned pre-trial – too poor to pay their bond. The Orleans Public Defenders’ office (OPD) plays a critical role in protecting the rights and well-being of our community, reducing recidivism by connecting people to jobs and services, and ensuring our criminal justice system remains fair and just, especially for New Orleans' poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Recent budget shortfalls threaten our community’s right to an open and honest, efficient and effective criminal justice system: OPD is facing a $1 million shortfall. The current funding crisis is brought about in part from systemic, structural underfunding; budget cuts by the state; and declining local revenue. And while the City of New Orleans provides direct support for OPD, our appropriation is one-sixth of the support provided to the District Attorney’s office – and even less when compared to other criminal justice agencies. While OPD handles 85% of all criminal cases in New Orleans, OPD’s budget is about one-third the budget of the District Attorney’s office. This present budget crisis is brought about entirely as a result of an unstable, unreliable and inadequate user-pay funding scheme that too heavily depends on fines and fees. In the absence of sustainable funding by both the city and the state, we will continue to face frequent budget shortfalls. To create and maintain a public defense system that contributes to the goals of the city's criminal justice policy – reducing over-incarceration, connecting the poor and mentally ill with services and jobs, advocating for the rights of incarcerated people to receive services and treatment that will reduce recidivism – then the City of New Orleans must play a more significant part in funding public defense. New Orleans can do better. New Orleans must do better if we are to continue the strides already made toward meaningful criminal justice reform. Please cast your vote in favor of a fully-funded public defender’s office.

In 2009, my wife was falsely accused and was sentenced to 20 years regarding a charge about a letter found by police in our home in Georgia. This note was actually authored by a relative of ours while we were living in Texas, but my wife's attorney failed to defend her on these reasons. To further increase the injustice, after attorneys were consulted, a determination was made that my wife was denied parole based on charges she was found innocent on and were dropped. The Georgia Parole Board has refused after multiple requests to provide detailed information on the denial decision. It would be important to know from the Georgia Parole Board their reasoning for denial to ensure they are upholding their public claim that they exist to hold accountable the Georgia judicial system. It would also be important to make sure the Georgia Parole Board is judging in an ethical manner. Because of the way the parole board is given power in Georgia, the inmate is not allowed to attend the hearing and the prosecutor is requested to provide their input. No information on the reasons for denying parole ever have to be provided. Any inmate can be denied parole for other reasons besides dropped charges such as race, religious beliefs, etc. without anyone ever knowing it. This year, a law was passed allowing open records for parole decisions regarding death row inmates; however, no such right is given to the citizens of Georgia to know whether a parole decision is fair and ethical for non- death row inmates. I am calling on the government of Georgia to allow the public to hold the parole board accountable by having open access to all information that pertains to the decision making process when any inmate is considered for and denied parole.