Members, Supporters and Partners of The Florida State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are calling on Governor Rick Scott to rescind his decision to remove State Attorney Aramis Ayala from the Markeith Lloyd case. State Attorney Ayala made a sensible decision about the use of prosecutorial resources in her jurisdiction. After a detailed review, she announced that she would no longer seek the death penalty in future cases. She had ample reason to come to this decision because the death penalty is an expensive, unnecessary, unreliable, and racially-biased punishment. The death penalty wastes prosecutorial, defense, judicial, and correctional resources. Pursuing the death penalty requires additional resources given the literal life-and-death stakes of the prosecution. A death penalty case necessitates additional procedural protections, lengthy jury selection, an involved sentencing phase, and an intricate appeals process. Even the possibility of the death penalty raises costs because of additional pre-trial preparation and investigation in potentially capital cases. These costs continue in prison with the need for a separate death row and the costs of execution. Given this reality, it is unsurprising that Florida spends an estimated $51 million a year on the death penalty. Florida taxpayers pay approximately $3.2 million to prosecute, convict, and execute a single person. And what for? There is no reliable evidence that the death penalty makes communities any safer. In fact, the Florida communities that do not impose death sentences have lower crime rates that those that do. Even with the additional procedures instituted in death penalty cases, Florida’s death penalty system has proven unreliable in determining who is guilty, which crimes are the worst-of-the-worst, and in complying with constitutional standards. With 26 death row exonerees, Florida leads the nation in the number of innocent people freed from death row. The courts have reduced the death sentences of hundreds of Florida death row inmates to life sentences, and Florida’s death penalty has been repeatedly found unconstitutional. The racially-biased application of Florida’s death penalty is another compelling reason not to pursue it. The death penalty is inextricably intertwined with a history of mob violence against Black people. In Florida, there is clear bias in the way the race of a defendant and the race of a homicide victim affect outcomes. Homicides involving white female victims are 6.5 times more likely to result in an execution than those involving Black male victims, and no white person has been executed in Florida for a homicide involving a Black victim. These facts provided State Attorney Ayala with a host of reasons to determine that pursuing life sentences instead of the death penalty was in the interest of justice in the Ninth Judicial Circuit. Yet, you took the extraordinary step of reassigning a case because of your personal opinion about how justice should be delivered. Numerous counties, 19 states, and 102 countries are able to provide justice without administering the death penalty. There was no “good and sufficient reason” to remove her from the Loyd case. Your decision to interfere with an elected prosecutor’s determination of local priorities is even more serious given the fact that State Attorney Ayala is the first Black State Attorney in Florida history. When 95% of elected prosecutors nationwide are white, State Attorney Ayala’s voice and leadership are important for the future of the criminal justice system. The Florida State Conference of the NAACP is deeply troubled by this unprovoked interference with her proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion. We call on you to immediately rescind your executive order reassigning the Markeith Lloyd case and to leave decisions about the pursuit of the death penalty in the Ninth Judicial Circuit to its duly elected prosecutor.

I would like to speak out for thousands of convicted felons whom are expected to change their actions and way of life yet our rights are stripped from us. How can our voices be heard and changes be expected to happen if we can't be heard? Taking our right to vote away is only trying to confirm that we are nothing, nobody's, and that our opinions and voices are no longer valued, which in turn strips us of our feelings of self worth in turn hindering our process of positive change. We can not be coached to make positive changes and then have our voices be taken from us.

While I don't believe the Trump Administration should be allowed to enact any legislation at this time, I am writing this particularly to stop Trump from signing SJ Res 18 which allows "hunters" to kill hibernating bears, gas wolf pups in their dens and shoot wildlife from planes. This is not hunting; this is murder and in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge -- "refuge" means "safe place." SJ Res 18 does not promote safety in an way. We must not allow this to happen for the sake of the wildlife and the sake of the planet our children will inherit.

U.S. Representative Devin Nunes broke his Constitutional oath by revealing information to the White House which is under Federal Investigation. He made this decision without the knowledge or backing of the House Intelligence Committee. His removal from both chairman of House Intelligence Committee and U.S. Representative for California's 22nd congressional district. He should be then held to an independent investigation to determine the depth of his involvement.

To make our Livingston Counties communities more secure and more just. It is just to pull over and ticket bad drivers, but it does not make our community more secure, nor is it just, to deport them because of that.

If you hear the sound of a gun, you would try to protect yourself from further gun fire. The police are using new technology that uses the sound of gun fire to help protect the citizens. This proposed bill is trying to make it easier for people to buy gun silencers. The current law - which is not infringing on anyone's right to own a gun - makes it very difficult to buy a silencer, and for good reason. If gun silencers were able to be purchased freely, then there's a greater risk of killing innocent lives. Also, a greater use of gun silencers will impede the police from protecting us, especially when there's a mass shooting. A NY Times editorial dated March 24, 2017 titled "Echoes of Gunfire Hurt Tender N.R.A. Ears" explains the insanity of this proposed bill. Please protect your constituents and prevent this bill from passing. Here's a link to this editorial. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/opinion/echoes-of-gunfire-hurt-tender-nra-ears.html?_r=0

Because we need to move forward to make sure all Americans can receive the right to healthcare.

After trying for less than 3 weeks to “fix” health care with a draconian bill, the President has given up. His Plan B is to let the ACA explode. This is irresponsible and violates his Oath of Office. If the ACA collapses, it will be because the President is aggressively taking action to undermine it. He issued an Exec Order (13765) in January saying that because he is seeking “prompt repeal” of the ACA, agencies should waive, defer or delay its enforcement. Agencies have: •Refused to enforce the tax penalty on people who don’t buy health insurance. •Destabilized the program by pulling ads to encourage sign ups. •Cut funding where possible. EO 13765 needs to be revoked. Its premise—ACA’s prompt repeal—is no longer valid. More importantly, the Administration needs to enforce and support the ACA. IT IS THE LAW.

Colin Kapernick exercised his right to silent protest against the National Anthem and donated $1 million dollars to social justice related organizations as a result. It has been said that he has been "blackballed" by all NFL teams due to his decision to advocate for people of color, and social justice. As citizens of this world, who support leaders who rise above their privilege and position to advocate for causes greater than themselves and who use their platform to create greater awareness, will always end up on the right side of history. Please join in with us to share that we will vote with our dollars until this is addressed.

I parked my car in front of my house 14 min before NO PARKING street cleaning time was up, after the street sweeper went through, and I was charged $80!!! Minimum wage in Los Angeles is $9/hr. A minimum wage worker makes $81 in an 8hr work day. With taxes, Social Security, and all of the stuff you take out of the wage, it will take two full days to pay for one parking ticket (for street cleaning). A parking ticket is supposed to be a slap on the wrist and not break the bank!

Last week, U.S. Representative Devin Nunes—a member of Donald Trump's transition team and chair of the House Intelligence Committee—disclosed possible information about alleged White House surveillance to members of the press and the White House, prior to sharing it with members of his own committee. Additionally, the day before Rep. Nunes addressed the news media about these claims, he held a secret meeting at the White House with the source of the allegations. This is partisan obstruction of justice. The interests of our country are being threatened by partisan politics. Rep. Nunes appears to be in collusion with Trump to protect him from the investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia. Kick Rep. Nunes off the House Intelligence Committee and demand a special prosecutor to lead an independent investigation!

The Libertarian Koch Brothers are controlling OUR political system and with $80 Billion they can bribe a lot of politicians. Their RADICAL agenda includes controlling women’s bodies, recklessly polluting the environment for financial gain, sabotaging solar and wind energy progress, taking away worker’s rights, privatizing our infrastructure and doing away with: Social Security, ACA, Medicaid, Medicare, the EPA, the Post Office, etc. The Koch Brothers blatantly bribe OUR representatives with large donations and threaten to withdraw their financial support any time a politician does not maintain their dictates. Therefore, we the American people, vow to EXPOSE every politician and PAC that takes their money, BOYCOTT every group that involves the Koch brothers, and BOYCOTT every Koch product, such as: American Greeting Cards Angel Soft Brawny Paper Towels Dixie Plates and Cups Georgia Pacific products Kittensoft Lycra Mardi Gras Quilted Northern Soft N Gentle Sparkle Stainmaster Vanity Fair Thermolite Americans for Prosperity Freedom Partners Research more items, especially in tech, clothing, ag, building, chemical, oil/gas and packaging industries (ex): https://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers http://www.kochind.com/companies/ http://boycottkochbrothers.com/ http://www.kochwatch.org/2013/10/28/28/#comment-431 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/01/26/koch-brothers-network-announces-889-million-budget-for-next-two-years/22363809/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_activities_of_the_Koch_brothers http://www.alternet.org/story/150078/how_you_can_boycott_the_kochs (Note: Koch brothers work directly and indirectly to establish their agenda)