Category: Government & Politics

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Public Counsel, and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips Claim Sec Ross Violated Administrative Procedure Act SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Public Counsel, along with law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips will make opening statements today in a federal trial regarding a…

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten released the following statement on the introduction of H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019: “Last year, we mourned students who never returned home from school, congregants who never returned home from church or synagogue, families who never returned home from a concert, and shoppers who never return home…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement following an appellate court’s decision to uphold the conviction and 20-year sentence of a white former South Carolina policeman for the shooting death of Walter Scott. “The 4th Circuit’s unanimous decision upholding the…

SACRAMENTO – Today, Assemblyman Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia) issued the following statement in response to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) waiting one month to notify Californians that the federal government has rejected the state’s REAL ID residency verification process and has still continued to issue cards that are not compliant: “To date, 2.3 million Californians…

With a possible government shutdown looming, editorial boards across the country have placed the blame firmly where it belongs – on Donald Trump. San Francisco Chronicle: “Moreover, Republicans’ total control of government, and the president’s explicit acceptance of responsibility for any impasse, all but eliminate the chief political drawback of a shutdown for Democrats: the…

DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement after the release of a new report prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee detailing Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, including its targeting of African-American voters and its attempts to suppress turnout among Democrats: “This is even more proof that the Russian government and the Republican Party…

Washington, D.C.—  Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-San Bernardino) announced that his bill to honor former Stater Bros. Executive Chairman and Inland Empire philanthropist Jack H. Brown was signed into law by the president on December 6, 2018. The new law renames the post office at 390 West 5th Street in San Bernardino the “Jack H. Brown…

WASHINGTON(12/10/18)—Statement by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Human Rights Day: “As we mark the 70th anniversary of Human Rights Day, we note the escalating crises both here in the United States and abroad that threaten the rights of human beings to live safely and peacefully. One only need to look at the…

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that schools funded by the California Department of Education’s (CDE) Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE) Office have lower rates of tobacco use than other schools, according to a comprehensive study by the University of California, San Diego. The findings were based on two statewide surveys, the 2016…

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California State Parks has reopened several parks in Southern California that were closed due to the devastating Hill and Woolsey fires. Some parts of Point Mugu and Leo Carrillo state parks reopened, while other areas of the parks remain closed due to the damage caused by the Woolsey Fire. Meanwhile Malibu Lagoon and…

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee welcomed the endorsement from Congressman John Lewis in her race for Democratic Caucus Chair. “Congressman John Lewis is the conscious of the Congress and a living civil rights legend. I am incredibly grateful for his leadership and his endorsement for Chair of the Democratic Caucus,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee….

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal court issued a ruling on Friday that halts a Trump administration policy that blocked hundreds of lawful permanent residents from serving in the U.S. military. Judge Jon S. Tigar granted a preliminary injunction, holding that the Department of Defense likely violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act after it implemented a…

Back in the days of adding machines and manual ledgers, final election results in California were usually done by midnight on election day. Sometimes there would be a few precincts counting ballots into the wee hours of the morning, and you wouldn’t know a result till the next day. Fast forward to 2018, and the…

More than 27,000 Businesses and Residents to Get Improved e-Connectivity WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2018 – Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today announced that USDA is investing in infrastructure projects in a dozen states (PDF, 132 KB) to improve e-Connectivity in rural communities. “In the modern economy, rural broadband is a lifeline…

Agency moves to deny representation rights to health care workers WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. today issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s announcement that it will be denying union representation rights to more than 100,000 health care workers at…

Civil rights agency contradicts itself to attack own workers WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — As the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission prepares to hold a public hearing this week on preventing harassment in the workplace, behind the scenes it is upending internal policies that safeguard its own employees from harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, says the…

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representative Norma J. Torres (D-CA) released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s plan to issue an executive order to end birthright citizenship: “If there is one thing President Trump has made clear throughout his time in office, it is his complete disregard for the U.S. Constitution. It should…

SAN FRANCISCO – The ACLU Foundation of Northern California today filed a discrimination complaint on behalf of Black students in the Visalia Unified School District who have faced ongoing racial hostility. The complaint, filed with the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Education, charges the district with violating Title VI of the Civil…

BURLINGAME – Saying he is a “genuine leader” and the best candidate by far for students, educators and the future of our public schools, the five statewide 2018 California Teachers of the Year are endorsing Assembly Member Tony Thurmond for the state’s top education office – superintendent of public instruction. The five innovative K-12 educators…