Action Alert Digest - July 6, 2022

July 6, 2022

Action Alert Digest

TAKE ACTION: Ban Military-Style Assault Weapons and High-Cap Magazines

Another young white man with a semi-automatic assault rifle has, this time, killed seven people and injured 25 more, at a Fourth of July parade. There’s no good reason for anyone to own high-capacity magazines and weapons. Moms Demand Action urges us to tell Congress we need comprehensive gun policy reform now, including a ban on military-style semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and raising the age of gun purchases to 25. TAKE ACTION

Thousands Protest in Madrid Against NATO Summit

Thousands protested in Madrid last week against a NATO summit scheduled to take place in the Spanish capital. Amid tight security, leaders of the member countries met in Madrid between 29-30 June as the organization faces the unprecedented challenge of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. People who participated in the protest held banners and posters with slogans such as “No to NATO, No to War”. MORE

Russia-Belarus Nuclear Sharing Would Mirror NATO’s—and Worsen Europe’s Security

On June 25, Presidents Putin and Lukashenko discussed the deployment of Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus “within the next several months”. Something Putin and other Russian officials have resorted to since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine — the deployment could remake the nuclear balance in Europe and increase the risk of a potential NATO-Russia conflict occurring. MORE

Members of Congress Urge U.S. To Join Nuclear Ban Treaty

On June 22, five members of Congress gathered at a press conference in front of the Capitol to call upon the U.S. government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The press conference was live-streamed to Vienna, Austria, where the first Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW was being held. Twelve additional members of Congress have publicly expressed their support for the U.S. joining the Treaty. MORE

A Turning Point on Nuclear Deterrence

President Vladimir Putin’s threats of the possible use of nuclear weapons against any state that might interfere with Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine has reawakened the world to the dangers of nuclear war. "As egregious, worrisome, and risky as Putin’s nuclear antics are, the reaction of the international community has been, until recently, far too mild,” argues Daryl G. Kimball argues in a new column in Arms Control Today. MORE

SCOTUS “Remain in Mexico” Decision a Win, Now Administration Must Act to Save Lives and Restore Asylum System

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Biden v. Texas affirms that the Biden Administration can end the ill-advised Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program. This decision, which doesn't automatically end the failed program, paves the way for the Biden Administration to uphold the right of asylum seekers to seek safe haven at our border—and in doing so, allows the United States to once again welcome people with dignity and due process. MORE

Biden Administration Urges Appeals Court to Uphold DACA Program For "Dreamers"

The Biden administration and pro-immigrant advocates have urged a panel of federal appellate judges to preserve an Obama-era policy that provides work authorization and deportation protection to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. The Biden administration implored the court to reject arguments by Republican-controlled states that have argued the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is unlawful. MORE

TAKE ACTION: The Supreme Court Failed Us on Climate. Congress Must Act.

The Supreme Court has gutted the authority of the EPA, undoing decades of precedent and severely limiting EPA’s ability to cut carbon emissions and fight climate change. With the midterms fast approaching, this summer is the last window for Congress to pass a real climate bill to help stop rising temperatures and accelerate a clean energy transition. The Climate Reality Project urges us to tell Congress to pass a real climate bill for America. TAKE ACTION

For These Black Bayview-Hunters Point Residents, Reparations Include Safeguarding Against Rising, Toxic Contamination

An abandoned shipyard in the San Francisco shoreline community of Bayview-Hunters Point is now a Superfund site, one of the country's most polluted places. The 866-acre area is a jigsaw slab of concrete docking bays and abandoned buildings jutting out of the southeast shoreline of San Francisco. More than 35,000 people live in the community, where area residents, mostly people of color, are fighting for their lives. MORE

Meat, Monopolies, Mega Farms: How the US Food System Fuels Climate Crisis

Food production is caught in a battle between people and profits, as an increasingly industrialized system prioritizes low operating costs and high profits. In the US, nearly 40 million people don’t know where their next meal is coming from and food workers are some of the lowest paid in the country. Agriculture contributes less than 1% to GDP in the US – yet it is responsible for 11% of the country’s GHG emissions. MORE

R. Kelly Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison in Sex Trafficking Case

R. Kelly, the disgraced R&B superstar, was sentenced last week to 30 years in prison, months after he was convicted on all nine counts against him in a high-profile sex trafficking case. Kelly, 55, was convicted in September of racketeering and violating the Mann Act, the law that bans transporting people across state lines “for any immoral purpose.” MORE

CA Governor Newsom Pardons Sara Kruzan, Imprisoned as a Teen For Killing Man Who Trafficked Her

Gov. Gavin Newsom last week pardoned Sara Kruzan, whose murder conviction at the age of 17 for killing a man who sexually trafficked her became a symbol of a flawed justice system. Tried as an adult for a crime she committed when she was 16, Kruzan was sentenced in 1995 to life in prison for the murder of George Howard in a Riverside motel room. Her prison term was later commuted by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to 25 years with the possibility of parole. MORE

U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Child Slavery Lawsuit Against Chocolate Firms

The long-running US child slavery lawsuit involving cocoa supply chains operated by Hershey, Nestle, and Cargill in Cote d’Ivoire has been dismissed by a federal judge in Washington DC. The plaintiffs said they were trafficked as children after being approached by unfamiliar men who promised paying jobs, but were ultimately not paid for their labor, threatened with starvation if they did not work, and required to live in squalor. MORE

Disability Often Intersects with Domestic Violence. Here’s How to Better Help Survivors

One in four women will experience domestic violence at the hands of a romantic or sexual partner. Similarly, one in four adults in the U.S. lives with a disability. Between these two statistics is an overlap so large it demands attention. Yet, there is little discussion or awareness that domestic violence and disability often intersect. MORE

Uber Releases Safety Data: 998 Sexual Assault Incidents Including 141 Rape Reports in 2020

In 2020, its latest report, Uber said it received 998 reports of sexual assault, which range from "non-consensual kissing of a non-sexual body part" to "non-consensual sexual penetration," or rape. Uber said that riders were the accused party 43% of the time in sexual assault incident reports. In 2020, there were an average of 2.8 million Uber trips per day. MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Extend ACA Subsidies and Medicaid

The looming expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies, passed last year as part of the American Rescue Plan, leaves 13 million Americans on the verge of skyrocketing health care premiums at the end of this year―with 3 million likely to lose coverage altogether. The Coalition on Human Needs asks us to tell Congress to extend ACA subsidies and close the Medicaid coverage gap. TAKE ACTION

Advocates Continue to Push for Reconciliation Package with Human Needs Provisions

Advocates continue to push the Senate to pass reconciliation legislation that contains some pieces of the House-passed Build Back Better Act, but according to the Coalition on Human Needs, the list of human needs wins a package may contain appears slim. The latest reports are that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a key vote needed to pass reconciliation legislation, may be open to a package that addresses limited human needs, climate, and economic issues. MORE

Jobless Cuts and ‘Garbage Grabs’: New Iowa Laws Taking Effect

As of July 1, Iowans will see reduced unemployment benefits and childcare providers will see relaxed regulations. Iowa law enforcement can also start looking through your garbage without a search warrant. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed more than 150 bills into law this year passed by the Iowa Legislature. The laws also include one to ban school districts and daycare centers from requiring students and children to be immunized against COVID-19. MORE

Ramiro Gonzales is scheduled to be executed on July 13 by the state of Texas for the murder of Bridget Townsend. Please hold Ramiro, Bridget, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Joe Nathan James is scheduled to be executed on July 28 by the state of Alabama for the murder of Faith Hall. Please hold Joe, Faith, their families, and the people of Alabama in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Kosoul Chanthakoummane is scheduled to be executed on August 17 by the state of Texas for the murder of Sarah Walker. Please hold Kosoul, Sarah, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION