<div class=\”entry-body\”>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”2\”>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”4\” style=\”text-align: center;\”>
<strong>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt; color: #c00000;\”>
<em data-reader-unique-id=\”5\”>
2017 Booker bill provided framework for MORE Act
</em>
</span>
</strong>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”4\” style=\”text-align: center;\”>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”7\”>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
<strong data-reader-unique-id=\”8\”>
WASHINGTON, D.C. –
</strong>
Three key
<strong data-reader-unique-id=\”9\”>
</strong>
marijuana provisions designed to reverse decades of failed drug policy and first introduced by
<strong data-reader-unique-id=\”10\”>
</strong>
U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) passed the House Judiciary
<a class=\”asset-img-link\” href=\”https://www.gloucestercitynews.net/.a/6a00d8341bf7d953ef0240a4edabd2200b-popup\” onclick=\”window.open( this.href, \’_blank\’, \’width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0\’ ); return false\” style=\”float: left;\”>
<img alt=\”Election\” class=\”asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341bf7d953ef0240a4edabd2200b img-responsive\” src=\”https://www.gloucestercitynews.net/.a/6a00d8341bf7d953ef0240a4edabd2200b-350wi\” style=\”width: 350px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;\” title=\”Election\”/>
</a>
Committee today: record expungement, reinvestment in the communities most harmed by the War on Drugs, and removing marijuana from the list of deportable offenses.
</span>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”12\”>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
Booker’s
<em data-reader-unique-id=\”13\”>
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”14\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p%3Dpress_release%26id%3D638&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNGJRwNjcjWOsD7PhTRs8-Q0gLNZiw\” href=\”https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=638\”>
Marijuana Justice Act
</a>
</em>
, originally introduced in 2017, was the first congressional bill to incorporate record expungement and community reinvestment with marijuana legalization. This legislation along with a
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”15\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p%3Dpress_release%26id%3D949&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNGeywg7yfYb9qo-dN3oU-M0NIUOYQ\” href=\”https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=949\”>
Booker provision
</a>
to remove marijuana from list of deportable offenses provided the framework for the
<em data-reader-unique-id=\”16\”>
Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019
</em>
(MORE) passed by the House today.
</span>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”18\”>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
“This is a significant tipping point. The Committee passage of this bill is an important step towards reversing decades of failed drug policy that has disproportionately impacted communities of color and low-income individuals. These draconian laws have sacrificed critical resources, violated our values, destroyed families and communities, and failed to make us safer,”
<strong data-reader-unique-id=\”19\”>
Senator Booker said. “
</strong>
This legislation continues us down the path towards justice and I’m excited to see momentum growing around the movement to fix our nation’s broken drug laws.”
</span>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”21\”>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
<u data-reader-unique-id=\”22\”>
Background on Booker’s leadership on issues of marijuana and criminal justice:
</u>
</span>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”24\”>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
Booker has seen the effects of our broken marijuana laws first-hand, dating back to his time as a tenant lawyer, City Council member, and Mayor of Newark, where he created the city’s first office of prisoner re-entry to help formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into their communities. He is the author of the landmark
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”25\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p%3Dpress_release%26id%3D638&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNGJRwNjcjWOsD7PhTRs8-Q0gLNZiw\” href=\”https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=638\”>
Marijuana Justice Act
</a>
, which would end the federal prohibition on marijuana, automatically expunge the records of those convicted of federal marijuana use and possession crimes, and reinvest resources into the communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs through a community fund. Since
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”26\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2017/08/01/marijuana-justice-act-would-end-weed-prohibition-throughout-the-land/%2370de8b4e68c0&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNFVC_FpL2eRfSYo8o8CzWY7ou3OWQ\” href=\”https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2017/08/01/marijuana-justice-act-would-end-weed-prohibition-throughout-the-land/#70de8b4e68c0\”>
introducing the bill in 2017
</a>
, Booker has garnered support from Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Ed Markey (D-MA).
</span>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”28\”>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
In the Senate, Booker was an outspoken
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”29\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p%3Dpress_release%26id%3D608&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNEVZGNDbOO64zv7AoYxMpQgkIlzXQ\” href=\”https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=608\”>
critic of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ effort to revive the failed War on Drugs
</a>
. More recently, he pressed Attorney General William Barr on his stance on marijuana legalization and the rescission of the Cole memo, winning a
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”30\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/425466-barr-i-wouldnt-go-after-businesses-relying-on-obama-era-marijuana-policy&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNGzyUUCS1Lgmx18SN_ylUjHfs3x1A\” href=\”https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/425466-barr-i-wouldnt-go-after-businesses-relying-on-obama-era-marijuana-policy\”>
commitment
</a>
from Barr to leave states alone that have legalized marijuana.
</span>
</p>
<p data-reader-unique-id=\”32\”>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
In addition to the Marijuana Justice Act, Booker is the co-author of the
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”33\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/medical-marijuana-bill-aims-to-fight-jeff-sessions-renewed-war-on-drugs-194046/&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNGP4_jeW154TTjMWKbP4S_mjK-7TA\” href=\”https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/medical-marijuana-bill-aims-to-fight-jeff-sessions-renewed-war-on-drugs-194046/\”>
bipartisan CARERS Act
</a>
, which would allow patients to access medical marijuana in states where it’s legal without fear of federal prosecution, and the
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”34\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p%3Dpress_release%26id%3D573&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNEhz7LTWPnp2MS-5avnpgU-6FCGDg\” href=\”https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=573\”>
bipartisan REDEEM Act
</a>
, which would allow nonviolent drug offenders to petition a court to seal and expunge their drug offenses, while automatically sealing, and in some cases
<strong>
<a href=\”https://www.kanialaw.com/tulsa-attorneys/criminal-defense/expungement-oklahoma-criminal-records\”>
expunging criminal records
</a>
</strong>
, the nonviolent records of juveniles. These reforms would reduce a major barrier that formerly incarcerated individuals face when attempting to rejoin society. He is also a co-sponsor of the
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”35\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p%3Dpress_release%26id%3D888&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNEH29la8rembeFYblUStyvai3KYNQ\” href=\”https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=888\”>
Fair Chance Act
</a>
, which prohibits the federal government and federal contractors from asking about the criminal history of a job applicant prior to a conditional offer of employment. Earlier this year, the Fair Chance Act
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”36\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p%3Dpress_release%26id%3D896&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNETSQiLnlVwrMUCMOSTdRENFp5AHg\” href=\”https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=896\”>
passed
</a>
out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Oversight and Government and Reform Committee. In June, Booker
<a data-reader-unique-id=\”37\” data-saferedirecturl=\”https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p%3Dpress_release%26id%3D949&source=gmail&ust=1574379911540000&usg=AFQjCNGeywg7yfYb9qo-dN3oU-M0NIUOYQ\” href=\”https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=949\”>
introduced
</a>
legislation to remove marijuana from list of deportable offenses.
</span>
</p>
</div>
Author: importer
\’An act of faith and kindness\’: How Buddy Checks make a difference
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<article aria-label=\”\’An act of faith and kindness\’: How Buddy Checks make a difference\” class=\”post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry node node-web-content node-promoted\” id=\”node-247693\”>
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<img alt=\”\’An act of faith and kindness\’: How Buddy Checks make a difference\” class=\”attachment-post-thumbnail\” height=\”300\” src=\”https://www.legion.org/sites/legion.org/files/styles/scalecrop800x479/public/Post%2018%20Buddy%20Check.jpg?itok=4l5IaQAB\” style=\”display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\” typeof=\”foaf:Image\” width=\”501\”/>
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(Photo by Steven B. Brooks)
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<header class=\”entry-header\”>
<h1 class=\”entry-title secondary-2-primary margin-bottom-30\”>
</h1>
<div class=\”entry-meta margin-bottom-30 hidden-print\”>
<div class=\”byline\”>
<strong>
<a href=\”https://www.legion.org/\”>
T
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
he American Legion
</span>
</a>
</strong>
</div>
<div class=\”up clearfix\”>
<span class=\”post-meta-info posted-on gray-icon\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
<time class=\”entry-date published\” datetime=\”2019-11-20 14:00:00\”>
NOV 20, 2019
</time>
</span>
<div class=\”addthis_inline_share_toolbox\” data-description=\”Legionnaires reach out to fellow veterans around Veterans Day, create programs to ensure effort is ongoing. \” data-media=\”https://www.legion.org/sites/legion.org/files/styles/scalecrop800x479/public/Post%2018%20Buddy%20Check.jpg?itok=4l5IaQAB\” data-title=\”\’An act of faith and kindness\’: How Buddy Checks make a difference\” data-url=\”https://www.legion.org/membership/247693/act-faith-and-kindness-how-buddy-checks-make-difference\”>
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<div class=\”story story_05_body\” id=\”17edf402-0d3b-2f30-082d-ff9049a6a264\”>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
Prior to Veterans Day, American Legion National Commander Bill Oxford
<a href=\”https://www.legion.org/commander/247461/time-check-our-battle-buddies\” target=\”_self\”>
called on Legionnaires
</a>
to follow up on the inaugural Buddy Checks to fellow veterans that debuted last March and received National Executive Committee support the following spring.
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
During the 2019 Spring Meetings, the NEC passed Resolution 18, which calls for the twice-annual Buddy Checks to be conducted Legion-wide on the weeks of The American Legion’s birthday and Veterans Day.
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
American Legion posts again stepped up. In Weehawken, N.J., members of Post 18
<a href=\”https://www.legion.org/veteransday/247626/just-right-thing-do\” target=\”_self\”>
took to the streets
</a>
to connect with members of the post who haven’t been active in recent years, including one 91-year-old World War II widower.
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
“That’s what (non-commissioned officers) do in the service. You’re supposed to check up on your troops,” Post 18 Commander Chris Page said. “We’re charged … with the health and welfare of our troops. What we like to do is check up on our members and make sure they’re OK. We also check in on their families as well. It goes back to helping out with the community.”
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
And in Fort Gibson, Okla., members of Frank Gladd Post 20 were conducting Buddy Checks and came into contact with an 87-year-old Korean War veteran who hadn’t paid his membership dues in two years. Past Post and District Commander Jim Quinn said the veteran told the post he could no longer make it to post meetings and that his membership in the Legion was no longer important to anyone.
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
“I was dispatched to the veteran\’s house with his membership card,” Quinn said. “When I arrived at the veteran’s house, he invited me in and we had about a half-hour conversation about the current weather and our time in service. I asked him about his welfare and if there was anything we at the post could do for him. He replied that he was fine but he had trouble driving.”
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
Quinn left the veteran’s membership card with him and “told him if he needed any help with going places to call the post and we would arrange to take him where he needed to go. He told me he was not in that bad of shape but if he needed help he would call.”
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
The post processed the veteran’s membership with “Pay It Forward” funds. Two weeks later the veteran called the post and requested Quinn return to his house. “When I arrived he presented me with a check for his 2019 and 2020 dues,” Quinn said. “The moral of this story is cast your bread upon the waters, and it will be returned to you tenfold. An act of faith and kindness shown to this veteran convinced him that his post stands for the ideals of The American Legion and not just to collect dues.”
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
The following are a few more examples of what posts did on Veterans Day or have developed as programs to follow the Buddy Check philosophy.
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
• In St. James, N.C., American Legion Post 543 had a busy Veterans Day weekend that included distributing poppies that Saturday, and taking part in a parade and a Veterans Day picnic. A Buddy Check also was performed on Veterans Day, when the post’s honor guard and officers visited the Carillion Assisted Living where – after the colors were presented and the national anthem played – veteran residents were given a challenge coin from the Post 543 Commander George Freeman, and widows of veterans were given U.S. flags representing their loved ones’ service. Post 543 Service Officer Steve Muir said the post also has 70 active programs that regularly reach out to veterans in need in the community. “I must say that what Post 543 does in the Brunswick County, North Carolina community goes way beyond Buddy Checks,” said Muir.
</span>
</p>
<p class=\”para para_body\”>
<span class=\”char char_$ID/[No_character_style]\” style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva;\”>
• In Blue Ash, Ohio, American Legion Post 630 has initiated a “Never Alone” program. Coordinating with the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, the post receives notice whenever a veteran with no known family passes away. The post ensures there are veterans graveside to give their fellow veteran the proper farewell. The program was the idea of Post 630 member Pat Buschman.
</span>
</p>
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Lawsuit seeks return of \’fair-share\’ fees paid by Pennsylvania state non-union workers
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Members of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees union listen to AFSCME Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer speak during a forum in this 2012 file photo. Seth Perlman | AP file photo
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By Steve Bittenbender |
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The Center Square
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<p>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
Seven current and former Pennsylvania state employees have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to get back dues they claim they were forced to pay to a union that did not represent them.
</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
If they’re successful, approximately 10,000 people could end up getting $3 million back.
</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
The lawsuit was filed this month in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Middle District Court by the Liberty Justice Center, a nonpartisan “litigation center” that seeks to protect the right to work or create a business for anyone, and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
Seven current and former Pennsylvania state employees have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to get back dues they claim they were forced to pay to a union that did not represent them.
</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
If they’re successful, approximately 10,000 people could end up getting $3 million back.
</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
The lawsuit was filed this month in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Middle District Court by the Liberty Justice Center, a nonpartisan “litigation center” that seeks to protect the right to work or create a business for anyone, and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
</span>
</p>
<p>
<span style=\”font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 12pt;\”>
One of the plaintiffs in the case is David Schaszberger. He served as a statistical analyst for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry for a decade but voluntarily chose not to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 13, the local union representing more than 65,000 public-sector workers.
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The Liberty Justice Center estimates Schaszberger had to pay the union more than $4,000 in order to hold his job.
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The lawsuit comes in the wake of a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, an Illinois case filed by the same groups, that overturned the practice of public-sector unions collecting what they called “fair share” fees from workers who opted not to join. The unions maintained the fees were necessary to cover the costs of negotiating collective bargaining agreements, which covered both union and nonunion employees alike.
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“The Supreme Court has already decided with us and with the workers,” said Brian Kelsey, a Liberty Justice Center senior attorney. “Now we’re just asking the courts to make the union pay up for what they took.”
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In the 5-4 decision, the nation’s top court ruled such forced payments violate a public-sector employee’s First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association.
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“Accordingly, neither an agency fee nor any other form of payment to a public-sector union may be deducted from an employee, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.
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Kelsey said the now-illegal practice was the exact opposite of the right-to-work law the groups support. Right-to-work laws allow individuals to work in public jobs and receive the same benefits as union workers but without paying dues to the labor organization representing the workers.
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Pennsylvania is one of 23 states that does not have a right-to-work law on its books.
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The Pennsylvania workers’ lawsuit seeks a refund of the “fair share” fees nonunion employees paid between Nov. 7, 2017, and June 27, 2018. Dues paid prior to that cannot be collected because of the statute of limitations.
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They are also seeking to make this a class-action lawsuit.
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A message to AFSCME Council 13 Executive Director David Fillman was not returned.
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However, in a statement after the lawsuit was filed, Fillman criticized the case, saying it was supported by “dark money” special-interest groups.
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“We will combat this attack on the workers who keep our commonwealth operating just as we have always done,” he said. “Liberty Justice Center poses as helping public employees; however, their goal is to eliminate public sector employee protections altogether.”
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Kelsey denied the assertion this and similar cases are an attempt to eradicate unions.
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“What we’re doing is we’re representing workers, and in particular, we’re representing workers who had their rights abused by unions,” he said. “And it’s time for the unions to pay this money back that they unconstitutionally took.”
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This is one of two such cases that the center and foundation have filed in Pennsylvania. The other involves state workers seeking repayment from a Service Employees International Union local chapter.
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Similar lawsuits have also been filed in Maryland and Illinois.
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“We plan to file more,” added Kelsey, who also said he expects the AFSCME case to eventually go before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
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