Encourage the state legislature to pass even tougher gun control laws than presently exist.

What is going on with defined pension plans that have been earned over the past decades. Come out of the shadows and say that you are destroying the ability of people to retire with security.

We call on Alameda County Superior Court Executive Officer Leah T. Wilson and fellow Court administrators to reduce the Court’s exorbitant new online search fees. In support of those who cannot afford the high fees, attorneys may refuse to waive mail service of judicial orders until the Court corrects this affront to the poor. In April 2014, the Court began charging the public to retrieve civil records online, costing an excessive $1.00/page for the first 5 pages, 50 cents/page thereafter, up to $40 per document. The Court charges $1.00 just to perform a party name search – another $1.00 to repeat the name search under a different spelling or on a different day. The system provides no means of selecting specific pages from a document, charging the same for covers, captions, tables, proofs of service, or blank pages. These charges vastly exceed those collected under the federal PACER system. The Court’s flat fees fall heaviest on the poor. They raise serious constitutional concerns under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments (right to counsel, due process and access to justice), as well as red flags under the California Public Records Act., notwithstanding its vague sanction under Government Code § 68150 and California Rule of Court 2.506(a). The new fees will or may have all of the following disparate impacts: • Advantage represented parties over non-represented parties; • Advantage law firms and well-to-do lawyers over sole practitioners and pro per litigants; • Advantage exempt government parties over non-exempt civilian parties; • Advantage corporate media over independent media and independent journalists; • Undermine the dissemination of public information; • Undermine settlements by increasing parties' costs; and • Strain Court resources by causing more people to line up to search paper files, thereby burdening access by that means too. Solutions include: • Curbing the fees; • Granting free access to one’s own case (litigants pay filing fees after all); • Granting free or sliding scale access to the indigent including those with fee waivers on file; • Granting free access to judicial orders; • Eliminating the charge for a mere party name search; • Charging only to print or save documents but not merely to view them; • Enabling retrieval of less than a full document; • Establishing a one time fee for ongoing access to an entire case file; • Establishing an annual subscription service with added features enticing to those with the ability to pay. The Court claims the fee-based system is necessary to recoup the costs of providing public records access. But this accounting skirts the fact that the Court scans documents for the benefit of Court staff too. The monetary cost of maintaining public records access pales compared to the social costs of burdening such access, a burden borne disproportionately by the poor, to say nothing of the damage this regime does to the public’s faith in the Court’s economic fairness.

It makes sense to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 as the president proposes. It is good economics.

Congress members please reach across the aisle and work together for the good of the UNITED States of America.

It has come to my attention that at least 200 immigrants detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Suffolk County House of Corrections in Boston have initiated a hunger strike on Thursday, October 3rd. The immigrant detainees are protesting against substandard and unsanitary conditions and are prepared to continue the hunger strike at length if needed. In addition, I am concerned about apparent retaliation by prison against strikers. Clayton Gordon (A037 749 187) was placed in solitary confinement and has been told that he is accused of “inciting a riot.” Another detainee, Phonn Beth has also been placed in solitary abruptly and with no disciplinary record. We stand with the immigrant detainees in asking for immediate release of Mr. Gordon and Mr. Beth from solitary confinement, as well as a meeting with Sheriff Tompkins and a representative from both the ACLU and Prisoner Legal Services to address the following concerns together: • Improve food safety: Trays, dishes, and utensils are poorly cleaned. Many detainees have recently been diagnosed with stomach ulcers caused by infection with the H. pylori bacterium. They believe this infection is being spread by poor sanitation. • Equalize access to programs and services: Immigrants held in ICE detention do not have access to the prison's law library. The need for access is crucial, as there is no right to an attorney or public defender in immigration court. In addition, ICE detainees are currently required to spend most of their days locked in their cells often with the lights turned off, and only have one television in the recreation area. These inhumane conditions foster interpersonal conflicts as well as depression. • Support visitation rights: Immigrants held at Suffolk are often transferred to facilities far from their families, making visitation prohibitive. The process to have family and friends visit is bureaucratic and difficult. A detainee has a short timeline to meet with visitors to help him out of detention and stop any pending deportation. Visitation and communication must be better facilitated. If these demands are not met, Suffolk will likely be in violation of their agreement with ICE, whose standards state: • “Food service facilities and equipment will meet established governmental health and safety codes, as documented by an independent, outside source.” • “Facility cleanliness and sanitation will be maintained at the highest level.” • “Detainees will have daily opportunities to participate in leisure-time activities outside their respective cells or rooms.” • “Detainees will be advised of visiting privileges and procedures as part of the facility’s admission and orientation program in a language they can understand.” (http://www.ice.gov/detention-standards/2008/) As friends, family members and neighbors of immigrants detained in your jail, we ask that you address these concerns immediately and collaboratively with the hunger strikers who are courageously standing up for dignified conditions and fair treatment.

this is a petition calling on Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington to educate voters about their rights and the new rules. don't let rick scott and republicans take away voting rights.

The requirements to attend formal as they were given to short notice and are therefore unfair to the students

County leaders and developers are about to eliminate Marshall Park forever. Tell them we want to keep our park!

Governors from California, New York, and Washington have launched a coalition committed to the carbon reduction efforts called for under the Paris Agreement, which has now been joined by a total of 12 states and Puerto Rico. We urge Governor Bill Walker to enlist Alaska in this new coalition and do everything possible to fight climate change.