Marijuana has been a Schedule I drug since the Controlled Substances Act was signed in 1970. This classification was based on stigma, not science. The current recommendation from the Department of Justice would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug—believed highly dangerous, addictive, and without medical use—to a Schedule III drug that can be lawfully prescribed as medication. But the need to legalize cannabis nationwide couldn't be more urgent. Today, police make more than 1.5 million drug arrests each year, and about 550,000 of those are for cannabis offenses alone. Almost 500,000 people are incarcerated for nothing more than a drug law violation, and Black and brown people are disproportionately impacted by drug enforcement and sentencing practices. Add your name now to join a growing number of federal lawmakers, including Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Senate Majority Chuck Schumer and Oregon’s Sen. Ron Wyden, demanding that Congress pass the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which would finally end the federal prohibition on cannabis while prioritizing safety, research, workers’ rights and restorative justice. Source: https://www.vera.org/news/fifty-years-ago-today-president-nixon-declared-the-war-on-drugs

If California doubles it’s PD rate we will be roughly half as bad as Texas. California business interests can congratulate themselves on successfully lobbying for a workers’ compensation system that provides among the worst PD rates in the country. It is now time to take care of our working class and provide them with the benefits that they deserve. Message your local representative and demand a change for all injured workers in California!

Though accusations had been made against Harvey Weinstein long before, they came to a head in 2017 when The New York Times and New Yorker released in-depth stories with accounts of Weinstein’s abuse. Still, it wasn’t until 2020, three years later, that Weinstein was convicted of rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York. He was also convicted of rape in California in 2022, a 16-year sentence that still stands. The New York Court of Appeals shamefully overturned his 2020 conviction, claiming that allowing other women to share testimony of their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse to demonstrate a pattern of behavior should not have been permitted. According to Judge Madeline Singas, this is part of a "disturbing trend" of sexual assault cases being overturned. It also comes just a few years after Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Every 68 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted in the U.S. Only a fraction of perpetrators of sexual assault and violence are held accountable. It is heartbreaking and infuriating that the New York Court of Appeals has twisted the law to let Weinstein, a convicted rapist, walk out of the New York prison. We owe it to the nearly 100 women who risked their livelihoods and careers to come forward— and the countless others who could not come forward—to make sure the charges against Weinstein hold. Ashley Judd, one of the early actresses to bravely share publicly her accusations against Weinstein, said that the Court of Appeals decision was "unfair to survivors," and that "(w)e still live in our truth. And we know what happened." We believe the nearly 100 women who came forward against Weinstein. And together, we can ensure that their efforts to hold Weinstein accountable are upheld by the New York legal system.

This could be deadly to those who ARE photosensitive. It furthers the idea that bullying is okay and our disability (epilepsy) is something to laugh about. We have faced stigma since ancient times, but if the world is so inclusive these days, why is there an entire community that is able to be targeted and attacked?

People with asthma and COPD should not have to suffer through Teva’s price-gouging just to access the inhalers they need to survive. There is absolutely ZERO excuse for Teva to be the only major inhaler manufacturer that hasn’t capped out-of-pocket costs at $35. There is no cure for asthma or COPD, which means that people with these diseases need their inhalers to survive. But because of the corporate greed of inhaler companies like Teva, many have had to ration their doses due to the costliness of inhalers. Families should not have to choose between food, shelter, and electricity or their lifesaving medication while corporate executives line their pockets, but that is the reality that many Americans are facing. And in the midst of the pandemic, the worst public health crisis in the U.S., and while one out of five Americans cannot afford the medicine prescribed by their doctors, Teva has made $1.7 BILLION in revenue on their inhalers in the past five years alone. Teva has used profit from that revenue to provide huge multimillion-dollar compensation packages to the CEO and other top executives at the company while their patients ration their inhaler doses (if they can even afford them to begin with). Teva Pharmaceuticals still hasn’t, but Sen. Sanders says that Teva Pharmaceuticals is considering joining the other three major inhaler manufacturers in capping their inhaler costs at $35. That’s where we come in. We have to keep up the pressure to ensure that they listen and follow through. Together, we can make it happen. Will you sign the petition and send it to three friends to spread the word?

Ron DeSantis, Florida Republicans, and Vertol Systems didn’t stop with the Martha’s Vineyard flight. In June, 36 Latin American migrants were deceived and promised work, housing, and food if they agreed to be flown to California on a chartered flight organized by Vertol Systems. And just last month, DeSantis floated the idea of flying Haitian migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Enough is enough! We have to stop these flights before it’s too late. The migrants who were trafficked to Martha’s Vineyard have since sued Vertol Systems, and a federal judge has allowed the lawsuit to proceed and said that there was evidence to support that the migrants were targeted because they were Latinx. The federal judge recognized these sham flights as a political stunt asserting that DeSantis was exploiting migrants "in a scheme to boost the national profile of Defendant DeSantis and manipulate them for political ends,” and ruled that the treatment of these migrants was "extreme, outrageous, uncivilized, intolerable, and stunning.” It’s shameful that instead of treating asylum-seekers with the due process, dignity and care they deserve, Vertol Systems and Republican governors like Ron DeSantis are exploiting them and using them as political pawns. These are not isolated incidents. They are deliberate actions relentlessly carried out by anti-immigrant Republicans. It’s completely unacceptable, and there is no excuse for Vertol Systems to continue profiting off of deceived migrants. They must stop organizing the flights NOW. Will you take action and sign the petition?

The need for term limits is urgent. Currently, justices serve unusually long terms, with some holding office for as long as 35 years. This unbounded tenure allows a single justice to shape the direction of the law for generations, without regard for the evolving views of the electorate. It's time to put an end to this undemocratic practice and ensure that our highest court remains accountable to the people it serves. This issue goes beyond accountability—it’s about protecting our fundamental rights and freedoms. With every Supreme Court vacancy, monumental issues hang in the balance, from reproductive rights to voting rights to healthcare access.

Donald Trump is furious that he’s finally facing accountability for his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels (which Common Cause exposed to be likely illegal back in 2018). In a common pattern for Trump, he’s going all out to intimidate anyone who tries to enforce the law against him. He mercilessly smeared the public servants involved in this case – and their families – and is now under an expanded gag order to stop these dangerous attacks. [1] We're glad to see the judge in this case hold firm to the rule of law – but we must immediately prepare for yet another onslaught of disinformation and even potential threats from Trump’s backers who believe the rules don’t apply to him. If you agree Trump is NOT above the law, join us in thanking the public servants working on this case who’ve put that into action – and urge them to hold firm against any far-right backlash, intimidation, or disinformation. [1] https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4569258-trump-fires-back-after-judge-expands-hush-money-gag-order/

Protecting and expanding our freedom to vote. Drawing congressional districts to ensure fair representation for all. Reducing the influence of Big Money in politics. Combatting partisan election subversion. By advancing policies like these in the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, we will be able to achieve rapid progress on the issues we care about most. It is what will give us the power to organize for better workplace rights, restore and expand abortion access across the country, pass laws to stop oil and gas companies from polluting the Earth for profit, force pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug costs, finally put an end to the NRA's control of gun laws while kids are killed in schools, and more. These policies will ensure our elected officials and elections work for the people, not just the wealthy, well-connected few and big corporations. We all deserve a say in the decisions that impact our lives and futures. It is time to end the dominance of big corporations and Big Money in our politics, rid our communities of partisan-gerrymandered maps, and dismantle barriers erected to keep Black, Indigenous, young, and new Americans from voting. We must come together to demand that Congress pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to make the promise of democracy real for all of us. PHOTO BY ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The standard of living should be the same for all residents of the State of Michigan, County of Wayne, specifically the city of Inkster. We residents have largely been ignored and neglected when services are offered to other communities while overlooking ours.

Not only is Mr. Bryan an amazing person just in general. He is one of the very few teachers today who still absolutely give their all to his children in his class, and every other child in that school as a matter of fact, Bryan is there to feed their minds and teach them, there is not one child in that school that doesn’t absolutely adore Bryan , because of his work ethics his ethics as a human being and his teacher ethics bring back Bryan immediately!!

The Comstock Act—if enforced—is a law that prohibits the mailing of contraceptives through the mail. If the GOP wins the presidency this November, Donald Trump could enforce this law, which is still on the books though it's long been unenforced—and therefore restrict access to medication abortion, as well as other contraceptives. That's right: It's a backdoor to an abortion ban—as well as an attack on birth control, which the right wing has its targets set on—and the Supreme Court is handing Donald Trump the key. Repeal the Comstock Act NOW! Stop anti-abortion extremists' efforts to push a nationwide medication abortion ban and to limit access to birth control and other reproductive health care.