I am starting this petition, because in 2017, after my then 12-year-old son (whose father passed away in 2010) spent 14 months in a Broadway show (which he of his own initiative auditioned for and got the role), I was told by Social Security that I would have to repay every dime I received to support him from his father’s death benefit, for both 2016 and 2017. (Also, in compliance with the law, he paid taxes on this death benefit and yet the IRS is not required to pay back those taxes even though we have to repay the money the taxes were taken from.) The earnings limit is particularly hard on people in the entertainment industry and other temporary jobs, because benefits can be removed for extended periods even though the working income received is short term. Also, the earnings limit is a violation of a child's civil rights because it is the only situation I could find where it was legal to force a minor child to essentially support themselves - that is Social Security considers their earnings as a replacement for their deceased parent's earnings. I thank you for considering this petition. Current earnings limits laws put even further hardships on already struggling families who have lost not only a loved one but their vital source of income. Social Security was designed to protect these families. Please sign so Social Security lives up to this promise and so future families in this situation do not have to suffer this hardship.

To be delivered to Rhode Island State House, Governor Gina Raimondo, The Rhode Island House of Representatives. A conjugal visit is a scheduled period in which an inmate of a prison is permitted to spend several hours or days in private with a visitor, usually their legal spouse. While the parties may engage in sexual intercourse, the generally recognized basis for permitting such visits in modern times is to preserve family bonds and increase the chances of success for a prisoner's eventual return to life outside prison. Additionally, they serve as an incentive to motivate inmates to comply with the various day-to-day rules and regulations of the prison, to avoid any infringement which might disqualify them from having a conjugal visit. Family is the most important thing when serving a lengthy prison sentence. Without communication by letters, phone calls, and visitation, Inmates would be more aggressive and violent against each other and officers. It actually keeps them sane. I believe that if other state prisons allow conjugal visits for married inmates, that it would be logical to allow those types of visits in Rhode Island's prison as well. This type of bonding promotes healthy relationships and morale. I believe that if the inmate has shown growth and good behavior since being incarcerated whether he has been in one particular place for a long time or if he has been incarcerated atleast 6 months or longer he or she should be allowed conjugal visits. Not only will it help with decreasing the reentry of the inmates but it will help with their psychological wellness while incarcerated and give them something to look forward to. It helps them connect better with the outside world and will allow for longer, faithful marriages and healthier relationships. Honestly, I think that every inmate's case is different and conjugal visits should be considered accordingly. During a conjugal visit, people are permitted to engage in sexual activity but mostly, it's actually meant for family time chatting in a non-prison setting, offering some semblance of a normal life in order to keep the integrity of a family unit together. These visits are intended to incentivize prisoners to comply with prison rules, be on best behavior, and have a higher chance of success upon re-entry to civilization. There are lots of benefits to maintaining a family unit even when one of its members is behind bars; and studies show that conjugal visits reduce incidences of sexual assault inside prisons. All states offering overnight visits require prisoners who get on the list to have impeccable prison behavior and to have already been incarcerated for at least 90 days. Inmates who are lifers or sex offenders aren't usually allowed conjugals. This would also affect me and my family as I have a fiancé who is doing time in prison. We been together since 2014 and he been incarcerated since 2016. He is serving 18 years in prison. We do also have a 3-year-old together. It’s tough as it is to only be able to talk on the phone for a short period of time or only get to visit on certain days with my daughter, and if it gets too full you have to leave within a certain amount of time. This would help our relationship out a lot if it got approved; not only me but other families as well. Please sign this petition. If you can get your friends and family members to sign, Please Share !! Let's face it, each and every one of us have someone or knows someone in a prison. We are their voice as well, so let's speak for them and their families! Thank you very much for your time. Some articles that show how they have helped a family and the prisoners http://someoneiknowandloveisdoingtime.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/my-first-conjugal-visit-frp-rated-r/ https://www.legalzoom.com/marriage-divorce-family-law/marriage-domestic-partnership/conjugal-visits-preserving-family-bonds

To bring awareness to domestic violence in the state of Michigan. Laws need to be more stricter and more regulated. Many victims are losing their lives because their predator is able to carry a gun when they are charged with domestic violence.

The Echo Dots are storing people's data without them knowing and this should be changed due to private information possibly being leaked.

Release Rafael Benavides from Immigration Detention Asylum for Berkeley’s Benavides-Pineda Family No Deportations! 1. We, the classmates, teachers, friends, church, family, and community supporters ask this Immigration Court to terminate deportation proceedings for Rafael Benavides, Annelise Pineda, and Oriana Benavides Pineda and grant them and the rest of the Benavides-Pineda family asylum now. 2. The Benavides-Pineda family entered the United States with legal travel documents. Active members of the opposition movement in Venezuela, Rafael and other family members have been physically beaten and attacked for protesting the Maduro regime. They are part of the mass exodus of political refugees from Venezuela, the largest in the Western Hemisphere, seeking shelter in the United States and several other Central American, Latin American and Caribbean nations. 3. Rafael Benavides applied for asylum for himself and his family in July 2017. On November 12, 2017, while vacationing in Southern California, the Benavides-Pineda family accidentally drove across the border to Mexico, a common mistake on a confusing highway. This accident has put the family in an impossible and unnecessary situation, where despite their pending asylum process, they were detained and placed in deportation removal proceedings. 4. Rafael Simon Benavides remains in a Georgia detention center, away from his family for having done nothing wrong other than an honest common mistake. 5. It makes no sense to keep Rafael locked up in a detention facility in Georgia while his asylum petition is being processed. 6. We know how much his wife and children miss him and how much his absence has affected their well-being and their ability to live, learn, and blossom in our community. 7. We believe that families have the right to be together, especially when there is no reason to keep them apart. THEREFORE, WE THE UNDERSIGNED: Urge the immigration court to terminate the Benavides-Pineda family’s deportation proceedings, and allow them to reunite and continue their struggle for freedom and hope through the asylum process.

Tutu Pele presents us with an awesome opportunity. We need to recoup the Big Island’s 25% PGV production loss. Could your office explore state and federal support to build FTZs (free trade zone) exempt from trump’s environmental and solar tariffs. The FTZs would be dedicated to building large solar or wind farms as a public/non-profit private partnership. Consider selling Hawaii Savings Bonds to help fund it. Do not let HELCO/HECO be involved outside of being a contracted method of delivery of electricity.

Paid patriotism is causing a divide in the nation. This practice is not improving recruitment and those funds can be better used to support the troops and their families.

People need our help and so does our city. You can no longer walk 25 feet in San Francisco without seeing someone struggling to find their way. San Francisco has the highest proportion of unsheltered homeless, counting 511 people on the streets for every 100,000 residents. There is suffering on our city streets; individuals with mental health issues, anger, depression. Drugs being abused in the middle of the afternoon while walking our children down the street. Used syringes littering our path. Utter filth. It is unsafe and inhumane to allow these people and our city to live so completely lost. We have a social responsibility and MUST come together to find the solution. The Government MUST listen and respond. We can no longer allow People to live this way. This is a public health crisis. One we can all change by coming together and making what's right a priority. Mission before self!

My mother suffers from systemic lupus (a disease that deteriorates the immune system) and fibromyalgia. Studies have even proven that marijuana, or at least CBD (Cannabidiol Oil), can eat away at the lupus cells and quite possibly we could find a cure for lupus.

The rate increases make living in Cambria more expensive for residents who are on fixed incomes. They make it more difficult for young families to settle here.

To Utah Pride Center Leadership and whom it may concern: Due to conversations with leadership being ignored and a lack of community representation on your board, we of the community have been forced into the uncomfortable position of writing this letter. While we understand the fundraising achieved during the Pride season is by and large the biggest source of funding for the services provided by the Pride Center, we cannot deny that some of our sponsors have a history of discrimination against the most at-risk in our communities. Specifically, we formally request that the Utah Pride Center immediately divest from Chase Bank and Wells Fargo as well as retract their parade entries for the 2018 Pride Season and the indefinite future. Both of these banks have a history of exploiting communities of color 1,2, propping up companies that monetize the destruction of our environment 3,4, defy and reject indigenous sovereignty 5,6, and exploit the poor and undocumented. Salt Lake City has already announced its plans to encourage ethical banking practices and divest from all companies with fossil fuel ties 7,8. We feel a remarkable sense of disappointment and outrage that the Utah Pride Center would not stand in solidarity with our city and would knowingly take money from these sources. It is important to acknowledge that the majority of this letter’s authors are white. While we do not wish to speak for those who have lost faith in the Utah Pride Center’s ability to serve Utah’s larger multifaceted queer community, we express concern in the rising trend amongst queer minorities--our indigenous, undocumented, Black, and disabled communities--who feel both alienated and neglected by our services. Nonetheless we call on the Utah Pride Center to recognize that when any form of oppression is aimed at a minority community, the queer people within that community will always be marginalized to an even greater degree. We call upon you to recognize that queer liberation can only be achieved when we move to stand in solidarity with all oppressed communities. We must not put a price tag on our integrity and we must not convince ourselves it is noble to trade the dignity of our queer family for minimal donations. Furthermore we demand the Utah Pride Center re-examine its Board of Directors, it’s personal lack of diversity on that board, and the practices used to appoint their board immediately. A history of trading board positions for donations coupled with closed-door practices serves to maintain a disturbing culture of white supremacy, colonialism, classism, and ableism within the center. Until there is a substantive change to board functioning, problems such as these will continue to exist and thrive. We call upon the Utah Pride Center to hold a public town hall meeting to discuss current board practices and genuine plans to restructure these systems for appointing board members, disseminating information about board discussions and decisions, and to return the power of the Utah Pride Center to its community. We look forward to hearing of your divestment before the end of the week, and we have private citizens and leaders within several organizations in the community who are willing to meet and discuss this letter and the points therein in greater detail and length. We hope you will be as open to our message as you have been to your donors. References Egan, Matt. “Wells Fargo fails test over 'discriminatory and illegal' practices.” CNN Money 28 Mar 2017. http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/28/investing/wells-fargo-fails-community-test/index.html White, Gillian B. “J.P. Morgan Chase's $55 Million Discrimination Settlement.” The Atlantic 18 Jan 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/jpmorgan-lawsuit-discrimination/513494/ Kaufman, Alexander C. “JPMorgan Facing A New Environmental Fight Over Tar Sands Funding.” The Huffington Post 26 Sep 2017. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jpmorgan-tar-sands_us_59ca6944e4b01cc57ff5a982 McGuigan, Connor. “ Campaign to Divest from Wells Fargo Gains Traction.” Sierra Club 03 May 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2018-3-may-june/bulletin/campaign-divest-wells-fargo-gains-traction Russell, Steve. “Wells Fargo Preyed on Natives, Elderly and College Students.” Indian Country Today 25 Oct 2016. https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/wells-fargo-preyed-on-natives-elderly-and-college-students/ Sutherlin, Laurel. “Chase AGM: Dozens of Indigenous and Frontline Community Representatives Call for an End to Bank Financing of Extreme Fossil Fuels.” Rainforest Action Network 15 May 2018. https://www.ran.org/chase_agm_dozens_of_indigenous_and_frontline_community_representatives_call_for_an_end_to_bank_financing_of_extreme_fossil_fuels Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office. “Mayor Biskupski a leader in U.S. mayors’ new national drive for 100 percent clean energy.” http://www.slcgov.com/mayor-biskupski-leader-us-mayors’-new-national-drive-100-percent-clean-energy Pleune, Ryan. “Salt Lake City Pledges to Divest from Chase Bank and Fossil Fuels.” Last Real Indians 18 Apr 2017. https://lastrealindians.com/salt-lake-city-pledges-to-divest-from-chase-bank-and-fossil-fuels/

I had to go on unemployment because my ex employer was given me bad payroll checks and they were bouncing which is against the law but no punishment by the state for my ex employer but now I'm out of work and supposed to take classes because I'm not working it's not the fault of employees that they lost a job if it was they would not receive unemployment we need a change the employer needs to be held responsible mostly whe breaks the law maybe they need to pay ex employees their wages until they find a replacement job and and that could be their fine or just do jail time who's with me that has been through the crap of unemployment we need a change it's not your fault the governor just wants you off of unemployment to try to make him look good and say unemployment is low because we should not be treated that way so some just say I'm not doing this lets stand up to the governor and tell him no more and it was also told by the state they won't go after my ex employer because it's not a big deal to them well it is to me I don't have a job now