Dear friends,
When some people talk about justice, they mean that they want someone to be punished. Others want acknowledgment of responsibility and the possibility of repair. Sometimes, it’s an all of the above situation.
An 18-year prison sentence for Oath Keeper Stewart Rhodes for seditious conspiracy will have to suffice for now, since he is unwilling to acknowledge wrongdoing.
US Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who testified earlier this week about his experience on January 6, told CNN that Donald Trump should be “next.”
“It is a step towards full accountability,” Dunn said. “His lawyers argued that Donald Trump is the root of the problem, and I totally agree.”
No one is expecting Trump to admit wrongdoing ever, for anything. But it seems that the chaos he foments everywhere he goes may yet blow up in his face.
Clean Slate legislation is intended to let folks who have accepted responsibility and served time to have an opportunity to move on. This kind of justice feels right to me.
Ten other states have Clean Slate legislation. In New York, the legislature could finally pass Clean Slate legislation this year.
The current version contains a series of carve-outs: Drunk-driving convictions would remain visible to the Division of Motor Vehicles, for instance, as would the criminal records of people applying to join the police force or obtain a firearm permit.
Without a clean slate, folks can’t access housing or jobs for which they are qualified, and we set them up to re-offend because they lack options. As a society, if we exclude people who are ready to contribute, we all bear those costs.
Use this easy tool from Clean Slate NY to call, email, or tweet at your legislators!
Minnesota will use the settlement to pay for the litigation and to create
a special fund administered by the Minnesota Department of Health that is dedicated to the prevention of youth smoking and e-cigarette use.
In addition to terms that prevent marketing and selling their products to children and young adults — no models under 35, no event sponsorship, no ads on social media or outdoors, and no flavored products or free samples — the settlement builds on the principle of liability for manufacture and sale of dangerous products.
In Indiana, a lawsuit brought by victims of the 2021 mass shooting at a FedEx facility aims to hold a gun manufacturer accountable for the horror wrought by one of its weapons.
The door was effectively opened for gun litigation last year, when the families of five adults and four children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting settled with Remington, which manufactured the AR-15 style rifle used in the massacre, for $73 million.
Even when the plaintiffs lose, the cases compel the corporate defendants to disclose information that may assist regulators and those making future claims.
We need every tool in the drawer — except for firearms — to dismantle the culture of gun violence. Another holiday weekend ended with about 80 casualties of mass shootings in the US.
Tell the president to declare a climate emergency and act aggressively to prepare for disaster. I made it easy!
Avoiding default must be the priority. Some groups are calling for a fight on the Mountain Valley Pipeline permits.
Call Your Members of Congress: No special treatment for Mountain Valley Pipeline! This action is from Th!rd Act.
There have been big climate victories in New York State this year, including the passage of the Build Public Renewables Act and the All Electric Building Act, which affects new construction.
The strategic transition of the gas system needs to start as soon as possible because the more gas infrastructure we build or replace today, the more expensive the gas transition will be.
There is still significant work to be done to ensure that existing buildings in the state are not locked in to using expensive, polluting fossil fuel sources in their buildings.
Supporters of the bill say it would save middle and low-income families an average of $75 per month by capping energy bills at six percent of their income.
Sign up for tomorrow’s call relay to get the NY HEAT Act passed. This quick action is from NY Renews.
Here’s some good climate news from a southern neighbor:
Brazil’s government refused to permit offshore drilling by Petrobras, the state-run oil company. A network of environmental groups opposed the project which threatened a unique and vulnerable ecosystem. Lula came to power promising a decarbonized future and broke with his own history of permitting offshore drilling.
with love,
L