Coronavirus Campaigning

Campaigns (132)

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  Attorney General William Barr: Please Urgently Expand COVID-19 Prisoner Release Policies

  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, only 7 percent of Black men in federal prisons would be considered low-risk enough to get out using PATTERN—compared with 30 percent of white men. Additionally, Justice Department policy excludes non-citizens convicted of immigration-related offenses from serving out their time at home. Barr’s use of PATTERN is unacceptable and unethical as it excludes some of the most vulnerable groups from release. At a minimum, Barr must reconsider incarcerated people with immigration-related offenses, low-level drug offenses, compromised immune systems, 12 months or less left on their sentence, and pregnant people who fear for the health and safety of their unborn children. These requests are in line with steps that have already been taken in other localities across the country in recognition of the unique vulnerability incarcerated people and correctional staffs have to the spread of COVID-19. As facilities, institutions and businesses across the country are doing their due diligence to #flattenthecurve and stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, correctional facilities in the United States are still dealing with the issue of overcrowding. It is nearly impossible to practice social distancing in federal prisons, which exposes incarcerated people and prison staff to infection. The PATTERN risk assessment algorithm had never been fully tested or independently reviewed before put to use. Allowing an algorithmic system founded upon predominantly white databases to make human decisions puts people of color at a higher risk of mistreatment than their white counterparts. Please sign this petition to urge Barr to eliminate the barrier of race in the home confinement selection process and ensure that federally incarcerated Black and brown people are not disproportionately subjected to the inevitable spread of the coronavirus.

  465 of 500 Signatures

  Created by Peyton Forte
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  It’s way too early to go back to work, it will cost too may many lives !

  Because I am a pediatrician and take care of some of our most vulnerable members of society, and because I have a genetic disease that puts me at high risk . Furthermore, I am a department Chairman at a major hospital and I see the illness and death first hand .

  454 of 500 Signatures

  Created by Charles Goodman MD, MS
• To waive for 90 days the People’s mortgage and rent payments

  For the first time the American people are simultaneously experiencing a health, life or death, and financial crises. The government cannot afford to send every adult a monthly check for $1,200. The nation’s economic problems and fixing our national health system, to cope with pandemic viruses, may not be solved within the next 6 months. The coronavirus, COVID-19, is a unique virus and there are no existing and proven vaccines for coronaviruses. Further, automatically waving for 90 days mortgage and rent payments is the most expedient, efficient, and effective method to provide serious and meaningful economic relief for the people, without the Federal Reserve System, a system composed of 12 private banks, printing more money or the government borrowing money and increasing the National Debt. Recall, the National Debt is really the People’s debt. In other words, the National Debt is the debt that will be inherited by your children and their descendants/posterity. To conclude, ten million Americans have been laid off in less than a month. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to die because our federal government continuous to be dysfunctional, over 30 million Americans have no health insurance, and corporate debt is over $5 trillion. State budgets are about to collapse as tax revenues disappear. People who don’t have jobs do not have incomes to pay income taxes. The Bottom line: the health and financial crisis is still accelerating, and the People need a more direct and sustainable economic assistance: to not pay their mortgages or rents for 90 days. Sincerely Felix E. Cruz

  449 of 500 Signatures

  Created by Felix Cruz
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  Create a special fund for undocummented people

  It is the obligation of every Latino elected official or candidate for office to assume leadership to mobilize to create this special fund, and to prioritize it above all other matters. There are many looking for the well-being of all of us, but not many who take on the responsibility to look after our vulnerable undocumented population. Please take the initiative to move this matter, and include me in your efforts.

  437 of 500 Signatures

  Created by Luz Sosa
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  Tell Congress: Pence must step down as head of the U.S. response to the coronavirus!

  As fear of a global pandemic continues to escalate, Trump has announced that he assembled a team to lead the U.S. response — with Mike Pence as head of the task force. Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University, responded on Twitter: “It’s like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint.” We couldn’t agree more. People’s lives are literally at stake and too many have already been sacrificed due to Pence’s disbelief in science and inability to lead on public health as governor of Indiana. The cost is simply too high. Trump and his cronies are concerned that this crisis will negatively impact their popularity — and we’ve got a critical moment to capitalize on their craven understanding of politics in order to make the U.S. (and the entire world, really) safer in the face of the potential coronavirus pandemic. It is beyond irresponsible to place someone who distrusts basic science and public health research at the head of the U.S. response to a virus that is quickly spreading across borders and negatively impacting everything from global trade to local school schedules. Tell Congress: Our public health deserves better than Mike Pence.

  385 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Win Without War
• Governor Inslee - Please Stay the Course and Keep us Home

  I am a Washington State resident who believes that we should begin returning to normal when our scientists and experts say we should - not when Trump decides we should. So, stay the course Governor Inslee. Keep all of us Washingtonians as safe as possible! We'll be proud of and grateful to you!

  361 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Don Johnston
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  Broadband for all

  Millions of Americans have been asked to stay home from work and school in order to stop the spread of coronavirus. That's hard to do without access to high speed broadband. The United States still has a huge digital divide. Many homes don't have reliable internet or broadband. Some workers are using dialup to connect to their job. Some parents are using cell phones to get access to their children's schoolwork. It's unfair and unjust that millions of Americans are going every day without access to the internet during this pandemic. Congress is debating the next round of stimulus and is considering including billions for broadband. But it's in danger of getting cut out once again. We need your help right now to make sure this passes.

  360 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Demand Progress
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  Tell WALMART to Provide Paid Sick Leave to Employees!

  I work at Walmart and working in an environment where there are ten of thousands of people a day who could very easily be sick and touching surfaces, coughing, etc. It isn’t fair for me to have to get sick to get paid leave. I have a wife and child like many of my coworkers do and we do not want to spread the virus it to our loved ones because we are forced to go to work or else be fired.

  330 of 400 Signatures

  Created by RYAN GROUNDS
• Governor Kemp & Commissioner Ward: Release nonviolent inmates

  As a public servant in Georgia, I have a concern that we will not defeat COVID-19 as long as our state officials don't act decisively to reduce the density of the prisons, which will help to reduce the spread of a horrible disease both inside and out in the communities. Nonviolent, low risk to community inmates, misdemeanors and felonies alike, make up a large percentage of the prison population. Clemency will reduce the population to lower the risk of spreading COVID-19 inside prisons. Nonviolent inmates can better serve the community by not being part of the spread. They can quarantine with family, then become productive in their local community. Without the burden of taking care of additional sick, possibly dying inmates, the state can better care for those left inside. Additionally, the state will continue to collect money from parole fees, helping to fund other needs.

  327 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Kelly Reed
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  BOP: Allow free, unlimited phone calls for federally incarcerated people

  Inmates in all 122 federal prisons across the country have had their visitation rights revoked to curb the spread of COVID-19. While many facilities have offered additional phone minutes and video calls in place of in-person visits, many families still have to pay for the extra time. In the United States, the average rate for a 15-minute phone call from a federal prison is $3.75. As more reports detail just how vulnerable prison and jail populations are to the spread COVID-19, it is now more important than ever for families to stay connected with incarcerated loved ones. Families say they are left in the dark about facilities’ plans to contain and treat the virus, and suspended visitation means that families cannot see their loved ones for themselves to determine if they are safe and healthy. As of April 8, the Bureau of Prisons had confirmed 253 federally incarcerated people and 85 staff members have already tested positive for COVID-19, including 8 inmate deaths. These numbers will continue to rise as prisons face shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), soap, and hand sanitizer. Starting April 1, all federally incarcerated people will be confined to their cells for the next 14 days, effectively putting them on lockdown. Though the BOP said that “to the extent practicable” inmates should still have access to services like mental health treatment and education programs, questions still remain concerning the impact this will have on access to phone calls and other forms of communication. Add your name to this petition to demand the Bureau of Prisons and DOJ act to allow phone calls, video calls, and other communication to be free and more accessible to incarcerated individuals.

  316 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Peyton Forte