-Submitted by Judy Sullivan, USH Social Justice Chair

Americans of Conscience Checklist Week of August 19, 2018

By Jen HofmannPlease keep looking for the good and celebrate what’s going well. We’re right here with you!

Good news: Decent people everywhere are speaking up and working together. Just look.

National

• Transparency wins as a legal loophole for anonymous money for political ads ends.
• To increase its pool of future cyber experts, the US Army taught ethical hacking skills to kids at DEF CON 2018.
• When the DOJ refused to turn over documents seeking detailed information on states’ voter rolls, the Brennan Center sued.
• A record number of LGBT candidates are running for office in November.
• Rashida Tlaib will be the first Muslim woman elected to US congress.

• When We All Vote, a non-partisan group devoted to voting rights and responsibilities, is launching a September 22-29 Week of Action in honor of the Voting Rights Act.

State

• 11 women have earned major-party gubernatorial nominations, including in ME, ID, GA, and SD, none of which have previously had a female governor.
• Falling recidivism rates in states using evidenced-based programs, multidisciplinary support teams, and modified sentencing structures (AZ, CO, GA, MI, NC, SC, and TX).
• AK prevents cyber interference by accepting ballots only by fax, mail, or in person.
• OK Office of Management and Enterprise Services showed the state saved more than $60 million by ending prison terms for drug possession and some property crimes.
• ND director of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is working to model the state’s prisons after “the world’s most humane prison.”
• MA becomes first state in US to require all state-funded or -licensed providers of services to older adults to complete training in LGBT elder care.
• MO overturned a Right to Work law (previously passed by the state legislature) restoring rights to workers. To read more click HERE.

Local

• In a win for racial justice, Ferguson Councilman Wesley Bell upset the 28-year incumbentfor St. Louis County’s Prosecuting Attorney.
• Ruling: The Criminal District Court of Orleans Parish, LA, must allow anyone owing fines and fees after conviction to plead poverty in a “neutral forum.”
• Philadelphia will issue municipal identification cards for residents to access services like food pantries, health care, homeless shelters, and schools.
• Gadsden County, FL, has roughly halved crime rates, and decreased juvenile arrests by over 75% thanks to Sheriff Morris Young’s focus on decarceration and citizen reentry.

Corporate/business

• Facebook, Apple, Spotify, and YouTube remove Alex Jones and InfoWars content from their sites.
• The Boston Globe calls for a coordinated response to questions of media credibility.

Groups and organizations

• Gina Rodriguez, Always, and Feeding America are partnering to #EndPeriodPoverty.
• Grassroots activists in several states are successfully organizing to get anti-gerrymandering propositions on ballots in November.
• Philabundance collects milk waste from dairy farmers to make cheese that is distributed for free at food banks or sold to fund the program.
• Girl Develop It (GDI) is working in 63 cities across America teaching women web and software skills to improve their future job opportunities.

News with heart

• How a photographer, a great dog, and close community kept my friend from falling 2000 feet into the sea (story and video)–and are funding her medical expenses too.
• Chicagoans sent hundreds of coloring books to women in prison just because.
• The Veterans Service Corps is working on the US-Mexico border to create a 3-pronged plan to: walk immigrants to US soil to legally claim asylum, help deported veterans, and sponsor families in the US.
• Master beekeeper Julia Mahood is teaching women at Georgia’s Arrendale State Prison to become beekeepers both for future jobs and experiencing community.
• The Angry Tias and Abuelas have been making trips to the US-Mexico border with backpacks filled with food, clothes, and other supplies to many of those seeking asylum who have little to nothing.
• After completing his sentence, a Tennessee man restored his voting rights In time to vote in the May 2018 primaries and is helping educate others on how to restore their rights.