City Council Votes for Reclassification

December 17th, 2009   Filed Under ACLU, Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Reform  

Courtesy of Alison Holcomb (Drug Policy Project) of the ACLU:
Yesterday, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to pass Resolution 31174, which sets the 2010 state legislative agenda for the city. The agenda includes support of SB 5615 and HB 1177, the bills introduced by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Rep. Dave Upthegrove that would reclassify adult possession of marijuana from a crime carrying mandatory jail time to a civil infraction imposing a $100 fine payable by mail, similar to a parking ticket:

“In addition, we support reclassifying possession of small amounts of marijuana from a
misdemeanor to a civil infraction.”

The full text of the resolution can be viewed here. The relevant language appears in the “Law & Criminal Justice” section.

The video of yesterday’s Full Council meeting can be viewed here. The discussion of Resolution 31174 begins at 66:08; the vote takes place at 75:53.

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Restoration of Voting Rights in Washington State

August 6th, 2009   Filed Under ACLU, voting  

Thanks to the hard work of a number of individuals, and with the tireless pursuit by the Washington ACLU, restoration of voting rights becomes an automatic mechanism, no longer requiring the person to petition the court for restoration. Navigation of courts can be intimidating and complicated. There is no right to an attorney for restoration of voting rights. Some people simply wish to put that part of their history in the past and not ever step foot in a court room. This legislation helps deal with these issues, among others, and makes the restoration automatic. From the ACLU

“The Washington legislature recently passed a law that automatically restores the right to vote to individuals convicted of felonies when they have completed their time in prison and have served any required community custody supervised by the State Department of Corrections. This law took effect on July 26, 2009.”

Congratulations to those that spent their time and energy to make this legislation possible. You can learn more by visiting: ACLU restoration.

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US Police Misconduct Reports

May 10th, 2009   Filed Under ACLU, Blogs  

The tireless at Injustice in Seattle continue to toil. In addition to the outstanding blog covering police misconduct nationwide, Injustice is now doing a twitter feed (@Injust_Seattle). The feed is also found in this google map. Keep up the great work.

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Pizza Time?

June 5th, 2008   Filed Under ACLU, Privacy Concerns  

The American Civil Liberties Union looks into the not to distant future with this funny and scary video. 

“We may not live in a society where government and private corporations collude to track your every move — not yet anyways. But, we are fast approaching a surveillance society where every move, transaction and communication is recorded, compiled, and stored away to be examined and used by the authorities — and even private corporations –whenever they want.”

If the video makes you smile but also makes you wonder, go visit the take action page. 

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