I am starting this petition because my family has been negativly effected by measure 11. My children will not have there father in their lives for the next 6 years. We are having a difficult time coping without him and it will be even harder to cope after all the time we lose. Our case had special circumstances, one of those being self defense which I witnessed with my own eyes. Now he will be locked up for six years for protecting himself physically and his family's well-being. His being taken away from us for just acting out of fear is unjustified, maybe time is owed but not six years. Something needs to be done about the strict laws in Oregon. A man should have the right to protect himself and his family. Unfortunately, in court, our story was downplayed and not taken seriously. Any support is greatly appreciated we need to give our judges back their power and defendants' right to a fair trial.

The highest incarceration rate in the world and police violence against Black communities are some of the most pressing issues facing American society today. During Pope Francis's 2015 US tour, we urge him to meet with the victims of criminalization and police violence in the Black community, as organized by the US Human Rights Network and other organizations to hear their stories and amplify their voices. We implore Pope Francis to lend his moral authority to this critical issue by speaking out against police violence in low-income Black communities across the US.

The ACA is here to stay! That's a good thing because the law has delivered long-awaited patient protections, such as: - Making it illegal for insurance companies to deny people with pre-existing conditions; - Making it possible for people to find affordable coverage if they can’t get it through a job; and - Making sure women aren’t unfairly charged more than men, and have access to important preventive benefits like cancer screenings and birth control. Still, there is more we can do to make our health care system work better for everyone. We can do more to bring down premiums and lower what Americans pay out-of-pocket. We can give people more power against big insurance and drug companies. But we can’t do that until Congress stops wasting time and taxpayer dollars on repealing the health care law.

The U.S. Justice Department has awarded the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the official trade association of the firearms industry, $2.4 million for its “Project ChildSafe” program, which it says protects children by supplying gunlocks to households. Gunlocks are important, but there are other giveaway programs the DOJ could support. Just as important is advancing gun safety policies, against which the NSSF has been one of the strongest opponents. For example, at a time when more than 20,000 children go to the emergency room every year with gun injuries, the NSSF has been among the most aggressive advocates for loosening gun laws and getting firearms into as many hands as possible to expand gun sales. It has strongly opposed universal background checks, and works to “rebrand” military-bred assault rifles like the AR-15 and AK-47 as “modern sporting rifles.” Most recently, it joined the NRA in suing Seattle over a sales tax on guns and ammunition designed to help offset the costs of gun violence in the city. Giving the NSSF gun safety grants is like entrusting the tobacco industry with taxpayer dollars to protect the public against lung cancer. By doing so, the DOJ only helps the gun industry project an image of being committed to gun safety, when in reality its top commitment is to expanding gun sales. In a nation where 33,000 Americans die each year from guns, our tax dollars should be spent supporting those working to reduce gun violence, not helping facilitate it.

Don't you want to hear The Donald argue for "Firing a rifle into the air while balls deep in a squealing hog"? Can Scott Walker read "Not giving a [hoot] about the Third World" with a straight face? And we all want to know who's got the stones to throw in "inappropriately timed Holocaust jokes" (my money is on Ben Carson). I'll be catching the actual debate highlights on Comedy Central, but GOP CAH? I'd tune in for that.

This petition has been started because it is past time for the families and victims of the FBI's COunter INTELligence PROgram (COINTELPRO) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO#History This petition has been started because the founder and first director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, had no business whatsoever being allowed or permitted by the Government of the United States to undertake such a treasonous and heinous act as COINTELPRO - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover This petition has been started because the famed Church Committee FAILED to Compensate and set free the innocent men and women that the law enforcement community - federal, state and local - imprisoned throughout the United States (and the World) - https://youtu.be/zK2j5HDsSbs And because the TRUTH should come out! This program, this action was and is wrong. Entirely and demonstrably wrong and should, on its face, be exposed for the treasonous and heinous action that it is and always will be in so long as government allows it to continue. Thank you for your support and interests in the areas of Justice and Compensation for these innocent victims of the COINTELPRO....Please Copy & Paste the Links here in your web browser to view and read up on this treasonous action...

Among all the candidates running to be President of the USA in the 2016 election, Bernie Sanders policies and values are the most aligned with those of His Holiness, Pope Francis. Like the Pope, he has been an unwavering advocate and voice for economic and social justice, for the poor and the vulnerable in America and the world. All we ask is for His Holiness to become familiar with Bernie Sanders, his political platform and his track record, and if possible, to meet.

James Blake's arrest is a wake-up call for the city New York and beyond. Racial profiling and overly aggressive police tactics endanger our communities instead of making them safer. These tactics must end now.

Racial profiling and police misconduct are devastating communities of color.

Anne Arundel County residents suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, seizures, autoimmune diseases, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and other debilitating health conditions should not have to suffer in the darkness. They should not have to travel long distances to procure a medicine that their doctor has deemed effective and beneficial. Anne Arundel County residents should be afforded the right to local access to medicinal marijuana which can improve their way of life. Please sign the petition and tell County Executive Steve Schuh and the other members of the Anne Arundel County Council to be proactive in safely and effectively structuring the County’s medicinal cannabis program.

Like most of us in the U.S., I am a descendant of immigrants. My ancestors fled the famine in Ireland and oppression in Germany. I feel that I have a responsibility to help others desperate to live in our country and make it better.

Harvard talks a lot about common spaces, and one of the nicest green open spaces on campus is the MAC Quad. People lay out in the sun and read and several sports teams practice there. It would be a real shame to lose a third of that space to a parking lot.