The 1st Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." We can't give an order of significance to these rights however if a government official practices their religion in doing the function of their job, it IS establishing an official religion of the government especially when that job lays "the law of the land". When the SCOTUS chose Christian beliefs over the liberty and birth right of bodily autonomy, they established it as the government's religion. Bodily autonomy is the liberty by which all others are based. Humans cannot own anything if they first do not own their own bodies. This was proven by the enslavement of African Americans who have since continued to struggle to gain full control over the rights to their own existence. The unborn do not have and should not have rights or protections overturning the bodily autonomy of the life giver. It is first and foremost the life giver's responsibility and choice to care for their non-viable for life fetus. This care includes ending the pregnancy to spare the non-viable fetus from a life of cruel suffering. It is inhumane to force a non-viable fetus to suffer seizures in it's womb until it either lives or dies. Until it becomes viable for life or it rots and infects the life giver. And this heinous suffering pales in comparison to that of the life bearer who's forced to carry like livestock. This drive to protect the non-viable for life fetus is inherently Christian in it's foundation and no other religion has pushed this philosophic question as far as these current times. In the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and in their opinions and vernacular in the final report, the Supreme Court has made it clear that womb bearers do not own their own bodies as soon as cells start dividing and are implanted in the uterus wall. This philosophic argument for the sanctity of life can be supported by providing adequate care for the 400k+ children currently in foster care and by providing increased access to preventative birth control so that needless cells don't get a chance to begin to divide. Life deserves to be brought into the world on loving terms where all parties are cherished and supported. Religious philosophic questions belong nowhere near the constitution and the Supreme Court nor do they belong in any institution that receives government funding such as public schools (they are then a government entity by extension). Congress and Joe Biden MUST pass legislation solidifying the LIBERTY of bodily autonomy and rid the courts and entire judicial branch of those who are forcing their religious ideologies onto the whole of this country.

Big Tech companies have massive stockpiles of intimate user data that could be used to enforce laws criminalizing abortion. There’s no law or government requirement that Big Tech companies collect and keep records of its users’ data. Other tech companies like Apple says “privacy is a fundamental human right” and does not collect user location data. Although Google has said they will delete user location data for those visiting abortions, it’s not clear how Google will identify these locations. Moreover, Google will not delete search requests automatically, putting the burden on users who want to protect themselves to have to do that themselves. Google should prioritize privacy. Join us in demanding Google delete users’ location data that could be used by state governments to prosecute those seeking reproductive health care. SOURCES: 1. Ortutay, Barbara. “Democrats: Google must protect privacy of abortion patients.” Associated Press. 24 May, 2022. 2. Aten, Jason. “Apple's New Privacy Page Is a Not-So-Subtle Smackdown of Facebook and Google.” Inc. 7 Nov., 2019. 3. Rosenberg, Scott. “Roe's overturn is tech's privacy apocalypse.” Axios. 7 July, 2022.

From their unelected perch, the 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court handed down decisions designed to take away our personal freedoms and make our country less safe to live in. If we don’t do something to stop Mitch McConnell’s handpicked, right-wing extremists on the bench, they’ll continue to attack our rights until we no longer recognize the country we live in. To protect our fundamental freedoms, Congress must rebalance the Supreme Court by adding four seats. We can’t let Mitch McConnell or Donald Trump hide behind their hand-picked Supreme Court to enact their extreme agenda. Our rights are too important for that. Congress has changed the Court’s size seven times throughout American history. In order to protect our fundamental rights, it’s time to do it again. 58 members of the House of Representatives have already signed on to the Judiciary Act, a bill that would rebalance the Supreme Court by adding four new justices. Sign your name today to support expansion of the court.

Roughly 20 million people in the United States identify as LGBTQ+, nearly every American has a relative, classmate, or neighbor who identifies as LGBTQ+. All of these people are afforded the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness afforded to them in the constitution. Now, put that in the law!

During the Jan. 6th hearings, we learned that a US senator may have set out a roadmap to overturn the election — and so far, he’s getting away with it. We can’t let that happen. Senator Ron Johnson’s staff delivered a fake slate of electors to former Vice President Pence so that Pence could overturn President Biden’s victory, a former White House aide alleged last week. If the allegations prove to be true, Sen. Johnson took an active role to overturn the election, potentially overthrowing democracy in America. He must be held accountable. Congress must investigate Sen. Ron Johnson for his active role in overturning the 2020 election! We already knew the Wisconsin senator was doing Trump’s dirty work at the expense of our democracy. Just weeks before the January 6th insurrection, Johnson held a congressional hearing on election fraud, perpetuating the right-wing conspiracy that the election had been stolen.Then, Johnson joined nine other senators in calling for an ​​“an emergency 10-day audit of the election.” But we didn’t know just how far Ron Johnson was willing to go to undermine the US electoral apparatus. Now that there is reason to believe Johnson delivered fake electors to Pence, Congress needs to conduct an investigation. Otherwise, the message to the far-right will be clear: there are no consequences for trying to subvert free and fair elections.

This is important because the people of the United States cannot allow a currently undemocratic institution like the Supreme Court to make incredibly dangerous population-wide decisions which go against facts, logic, and the will of the people.

Because if we don't stand up now, it's only going to get worse.

In leading efforts to undermine the peaceful transition of power after a free and fair election, he attacked the foundations of our democracy. Nearly 160 million Americans exercised their right to vote in the November 2020 election. Dozens of courts rejected unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud, and the Electoral College formally ratified President-elect Biden’s victory on December 14, 2020. Despite these clear expressions of the will of the people—and with full knowledge of the implications of their actions—John Eastman undermined the Constitution and our democracy. These actions prove John Eastman fundamentally unfit for membership in the legal profession. He has flagrantly violated some of the most elementary ethics rules governing the legal profession. The California Bar should undertake disbarment proceedings against John Eastman and send the message that the legal profession stands firmly in defense of our democratic institutions. They must do so whether or not John Eastman plans to assume the roles of advocate and counselor ever again, as a private or public lawyer. It is the least our profession can do to protect and defend our most cherished ideals and institutions.

Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Council have passed a budget that cuts funding to our public schools. That is unconscionable, hits low-income schools the hardest, and has resulted in cuts of 20%-30% in some districts. Our students have already paid a steep price during this pandemic. They now deserve schools that are fully funded, small class sizes, access to art, music, and science, investments in special education, mental health support, and in-school social work, and so much more. Yet, in this year's budget, the mayor shuffled the deck ... and left school budgets in the red. Principals are panicking. Teachers are being "excessed" (which means losing the jobs they have in their school communities) while entire departments are set to be dismantled in many schools. And students and parents are facing a new crisis—just as we thought we were finally emerging from three years of interrupted and compromised schooling. This is all mistaken political showmanship by the mayor. But the consequences are real. Cuts to school budgets mean cuts to staff—that means less support for special ed, less enrichment, and larger classes. It means that teachers are losing their roles and schools are losing the professionals who helped their communities through this pandemic. And by the fall—when budgets are adjusted—it will be too late to hire these folks back. During the pandemic, we applauded our teachers as essential workers. Now we toss them aside. We praised our principals for their dedication and innovation. Now we slap them in the face. We made our students carry the burden of school closures...and now we tell them we won't invest in them. Mayor Adams—make this right. Fully fund New York's schools and support our city's students.

On June 11th, 11 churches joined together to provide $25,000 in free gas in Prince George's County to provide direct aid to the community. Organizers were discouraged to learn that Sunoco Gas Station on Marlboro Pike increased the price per gallon by 10 cents during the event- and immediately lowered the price after. Currently, in Laurel, MD residents are receiving rent increases from $400.00 - $1600.00 as well as parking fees of varying amounts depending on rental seniority & Schweb Partners LLC based in Jackson, NJ claims this is market value for their units. Blatant exploitation and price gouging are unacceptable when our community is struggling to make ends meet, Maryland needs explicit anti-price gouging legislation to protect our citizens from industry greed.

The lawyer who pressured Mike Pence to go along with a coup claims to know what Supreme Court justices are discussing, and has been revealed to be emailing with Clarence Thomas’s wife. Despite his wife’s deep involvement in a very public act of sedition, Clarence Thomas will not recuse himself from any January 6th cases. On the contrary—he was the only justice to vote against granting the January 6th Select Committee access to key Trump administration documents related to the insurrection. This is a clear conflict of interest. It’s blatantly unethical. But unlike every other federal judge in the nation, Supreme Court justices aren’t beholden to any structured code of conduct. That has to change. Sign your name if you agree.

Over reliance on law enforcement in the United States (US) has resulted in an overrepresentation of persons with mental illness in instances of police violence, arrest, and incarceration. Supporting this bill, which is currently under review in committee, will help cities and states throughout the country establish community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. If you agree that this is a need for our country moving forward, please add your thoughts to this letter and send it either to your Senator, or to Senator Wyden, who chairs the subcommittee on finance which is reviewing the bill.