Public Comments needed on deadly Bayer-Monsanto merger

Farmers are scared of it. Bees could be decimated by it. And anyone who eats — that's all of us — should be mobilizing to stop it.

I'm talking about a merger between Bayer and Monsanto, two of the biggest global agribusiness giants, that would create the world's largest seed and chemical corporation... and possible disaster for pollinators, farmers, people, and our planet.

Tell the Department of Justice to reject this toxic mega-merger now.

What makes this Bayer-Monsanto merger so dangerous?

One out of every three bites of food we take depends on bees and other pollinators. Yet bee populations are in a free fall that's only getting worse — beekeepers reported losing over 40% of their honeybee colonies last year, up from an already alarming 33% the year before.

Yet Bayer and Monsanto keep flooding the environment with neonic pesticides that are deadly to bees.

A Bayer-Monsanto merger would cement in place the chemical-intensive farming practices that threaten pollinators and imperil our global food supply, while likely increasing costs and limiting planting options for farmers.

The Department of Justice has proposed a settlement that would allow these two chemical titans to merge. While the department still has the power to stop the merger, it's unlikely to change course without massive public pressure from people like you and me.

The DOJ is inviting comments from the public on its proposed settlement plan for the merger — but only until August 13.

Take action before the DOJ's public comment period ends and help protect honeybees and our food supply!

NRDC and activists like you have been dedicated to saving the bees for years.

We've petitioned and sued the EPA to crack down on the use of neonics, and almost 100,000 of you have written to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos calling on him to stop selling bee-toxic pesticides.

And we've seen progress: With help from NRDC members and activists, we went to court and compelled the Trump administration to provide federal endangered species protection to the rusty patched bumble bee.

And major retailers like Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, and True Value have already announced they are taking steps to phase out neonic products or neonic-treated plants (or both).

But right now, the stakes couldn't be higher — and the need for action couldn't be more urgent.

We must ensure that this toxic merger never moves forward — for the sake of pollinators, people, and the health of our planet.

Tell the Department of Justice that you oppose the Bayer-Monsanto merger and will fight it at all costs.

- Rhea Suh, President, NRDC

Sign the petition telling the Department of Justice to let states regulate marijuana

medical marijuana helps all these patients

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing an assault on states that have legalized recreational marijuana. That means people who grow, sell, and use cannabis in states where it’s perfectly legal to do so could have their lives ruined by arrest, confiscation of their property, and prosecution. But the tide is turning, and more Americans support legalized cannabis than ever before.(1) Twenty-nine states have legalized medical marijuana, and nine have legalized its recreational use. Fifty-four members of Congress from both parties just sent a letter to President Trump asking him to overrule the DOJ’s decision.(2) If enough of us speak out along with the growing chorus of elected officials who support legalization, we can force Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end his crusade against marijuana. That’s why we’ve joined a broad coalition of organizations and elected officials to tell Sessions that the people have spoken: states should decide how to regulate marijuana. Will you join us? Sign the petition telling the Department of Justice to let states regulate marijuana. Sessions just repealed an Obama-era rule that directed the DOJ not to prosecute cannabis growers, sellers, and users in states that have legalized recreational marijuana. Now federal prosecutors can resume their failed War on Drugs. It’s not 1960 anymore. Decades of evidence show that cannabis is relatively safe, yet federal law treats it the same way it treats heroin -- as a dangerous drug of abuse. That’s why on top of the 29 states that have legalized it medicinally -- 9 of which have legalized it for recreational use as well -- 13 have decriminalized marijuana in attempt to reduce our prison population, which is the largest in the world thanks to the War on Drugs, which has disproportionately targeted communities of color.(3) Americans’ attitude towards cannabis has profoundly changed. For the first time ever, even a majority of Republican voters support legalization. All told, 61% of Americans support legalization and 71% oppose the administration trying to stop state regulation.(4) That support is beginning to extend to politicians. In direct response to Sessions’ announcement, Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) has vowed to block DOJ nominees unless Sessions rescinds his decision, while Representative Tom Garrett (R-VA) is sponsoring a bill to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances.(5) And 54 members of Congress from both parties have signed a letter urging Donald Trump -- who promised to leave marijuana alone while on the campaign trail -- to rein Sessions in. We’re at a critical juncture. Backing up the growing number of politicians and business interests with demonstrable public support could stop Sessions in his tracks. Will you sign the petition and lend your voice to the growing chorus of people who demand legalization? Yes, I'll sign the petition demanding the DOJ let states regulate marijuana! - the Courage team Footnotes: 1. http://news.gallup.com/poll/221018/record-high-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx & https://www.cbsnews.com/news/support-for-marijuana-legalization-at-all-time-high/ 2. http://www.newsweek.com/members-congress-marijuana-791086 3. http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total & http://www.governing.com/gov-data/state-marijuana-laws-map-medical-recreational.html 4. Refer to note 1. 5. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/pot-showdown-congress-uniting-to-stop-sessions-war-on-drugs-w515595

Don’t let Trump’s Justice Department silence dissent

One year ago, on January 20, police arrested more than 200 individuals protesting the inauguration of Donald Trump. Last month, the first six defendants were acquitted on all charges.

But now, federal prosecutors are refusing to drop the charges against 187 remaining defendants, even though the vast majority were peacefully protesting the election of President Trump, and there is no way they could have been involved in any property damage.

This attempt by police and prosecutors to jail individuals who were merely present at these protests, exercising their free expression rights, is a direct assault on free speech.

The aggressive prosecution of these remaining protesters smacks of politics, not the law. The Justice Department is sending a clear message that dissent against the policies of the Trump administration will be dealt with severely.

Sign the petition calling on federal prosecutors to drop the charges against the remaining protesters unless they have direct evidence that particular individuals engaged in property damage. 

Join us in calling on the D.C. City Council to launch a truly independent investigation into how police were allowed to use a controversial tactic called “kettling” to indiscriminately round up and arrest over 200 protesters—in violation of D.C. laws meant to protect First Amendment activity.

Peaceful protest and dissent are protected legal rights. And the appetite for patriotic dissent against the Trump administration is likely only to grow.

With Washington, D.C., being the epicenter of much of that protest, it is critical that the D.C. City Council strengthen free speech protections to prevent another unlawful mass arrest of peaceful protesters.

One recently acquitted protester said that the verdict “shows the country that the jury was unwilling to do what the government wanted them to do, which was criminalize dissent.”

Sign the petition to protect the First Amendment free speech rights of all protesters.

- Suzanne Nossel

Executive Director. PEN America

Tell Congress: Stop voter suppression and pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act

The petition to Congress reads: “Because of a disastrous Supreme Court ruling, the Voting Rights Act is weaker now than when it was passed 50 years ago. Fight to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore the Voting Rights Act and block new efforts to suppress African-American and Latinx votes.” Add your name:

Every year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day reminds us of the fierce struggle for freedom he helped lead. This year, it also reminds us how far we still need to go to fulfill and defend the gains of the civil rights movement, especially when it comes to voting. In 2013, the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 bill that protected communities of color against racist voter suppression.1 Congress could have acted immediately to defend every person’s right to vote and fix the damage inflicted by the Court. But the Shelby v. Holder decision tipped the electoral scales in Republicans’ favor, so the Republican extremists who control Congress have done nothing. Unleashed by the Shelby decision, and by Donald Trump’s near-constant lies about voter fraud, extreme right-wing Republicans – from Congress to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to state legislatures across the country – are doing everything they can to disenfranchise voters and suppress the vote. The Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) would help stop them. We need to build momentum to pass the VRAA now. Tell Congress: Pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act. Click here to sign the petition. It is long past time to repair the damage the Supreme Court inflicted on the Voting Rights Act. Trump and extremist right-wing Republicans relentlessly perpetuate the myth of voter fraud to cast doubt on the electoral process, reinforce racism, undermine the voting power of communities of color and justify laws that suppress the vote. In states across the country, Republicans are doubling down on their efforts to steal elections by enacting discriminatory photo ID laws, cutting back early voting, eliminating polling locations and doing anything else they can think of to make it harder for people to vote. These efforts are helping Republicans steal elections. The 2016 election was the first presidential election in 50 years in which voters did not have the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Voting rights experts believe that suppression efforts kept 200,000 people from voting in Wisconsin, a state Trump won by less than 23,000 votes.2 Similar suppression in North Carolina, Florida and Ohio helped hand those states to Trump.3 The 2018 elections will be a massive opportunity to reject Republican extremism and stand up for progressive values. It’s time to pressure Congress to protect every person’s right to vote. Tell Congress: Pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act. Click here to sign the petition. Before the disastrous Shelby decision, the DOJ was empowered to block changes to election law in states or parts of states with histories of voter suppression before they went into effect. Shelby took away that power. Voter suppression rules can still be challenged but not until “after the fact,” which often means voters of color have already been blocked from the polls. The VRAA would establish the strongest voting rights laws ever passed by Congress. It would require states with a history of recent voting discrimination to clear changes to voting laws with the DOJ, require any new state voter ID laws to be reviewed and approved by the federal government, and block new efforts to suppress African-American and Latino votes.4 The bill would also give the attorney general the authority to send federal election observers to monitor elections in which there’s a risk of voting discrimination. Republicans in Congress want to steal elections and disenfranchise people of color. They will not help pass the VRAA unless they are under massive pressure to act. We need to start building that pressure now. Can you add your name today? Tell Congress: Stop voter suppression and pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/VRAA_2018?t=8&akid=26821%2E3130208%2ECCtOhM -Heidi Hess, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Jenée Desmond-Harris, "13 things you need to know about the fight over voting rights," Vox, Feb. 14, 2016. Ari Berman, "Wisconsin’s Voter-ID Law Suppressed 200,000 Votes in 2016 (Trump Won by 22,748)," The Nation, May 9, 2017. Steven W. Thrasher, "Trump’s voter fraud commission is a shameless white power grab," The Guardian, May 12, 2017. Katanga Johnson, "House Democrats Seek Voting Rights Act Improvements," U.S. News & World Reports, June 22, 2017.

Tell the DOJ: drop the bogus riot charges against Trump inauguration protesters

When a group of over 200 people, including journalists and legal observers, attended a protest of Trump’s inauguration, D.C. police indiscriminately swept them up and arrested them. Now they’re facing up 70 years in prison for taking part in – or even just being near – a political protest.¹

Tell the DOJ to drop the bogus riot charges against Trump inauguration protesters.

Trump’s DOJ is trying to throw the book at Trump resisters by charging a group of over 200 people who attended or participated in an inauguration protest with felony counts of rioting and conspiracy to incite a riot.

Their goal is simple: Criminalize dissent and undermine Americans’ First Amendment right to protest.² The DOJ is using the DisruptJ20 case as a test of the legal system to see how far they can go. If we can’t stop their overreach here, we can be sure they’ll have more Trump resistance figures in their sights next.

Tell the DOJ: drop the bogus riot charges against Trump inauguration protesters.

At every turn, the DOJ has over stepped its bounds in trying to bring any sort of charges against these anti-Trump protesters. Back in August, they demanded the disruptj20.org website hand over the IP addresses of 1.3 million people who visited the site leading up to Inauguration Day.

Then they asked for a search warrant against Facebook to release the personal data – including friends lists – of DisruptJ20 organizers.

In both cases, the D.C. rejected the DOJ’s requests. But riot charges are still hanging over the heads of almost 200 people.

Tell the DOJ to drop the riot charges against Trump inauguration protesters.

-Reuben, Demand Progress

Sources:
1. The Intercept, "Hundreds Face Conspiracy Charges For Actions Of A Few During Inauguration Day Protests," October 25, 2017
2. The Nation, "The Prosecution of Inauguration-Day Protesters Is a Threat to DissOctober 20, 2017

ent," 

BRING ACCOUNTABILITY BACK TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

There is an epidemic of police killing and abusing Black and Brown people. And we have an Attorney General hell-bent on making sure these injustices continue for a very long time.

Communities and movements have been fighting for generations to achieve real accountability for prosecutors and police. Not only is Jeff Sessions working to dismantle that progress, he’s crafting initiatives and policies that will make these betrayals of justice even worse.

We live in a world today where we have no reliable data on how many people are shot by police officers each year. Where police can use the same weapons of war our military uses in Iraq and Afghanistan on our streets. Where prosecutors protect police departments, not the communities that elect them, and turn a blind eye to police misconduct.

Prosecutors and law enforcement should be accountable to the communities they serve, but Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department is widening the divide between police and communities and fueling mass incarceration.

We will not accept this. We must take action to ensure real accountability and community safety.

Join us in making five clear demands to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The Justice Department must:

*Develop guidelines for prosecutors to shrink racial disparities, bolster accountability, and reduce mass incarceration

*Enforce requirements for data collection and reporting on police-community encounters

*De-militarizing the police

*Stop allowing police departments to profit by seizing property

*Restore community policing programs.

Sign the petition. 

Read the letter I wrote to the Phoenix Chief of Police after the police assaulted protesters at the Trump rally.