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Support Vital Hate Crimes
Prevention Laws!
The RAC has long advocated for
increased hate crimes
protections. Today, the
Leahy/Collins/Kennedy/Snowe
amendment (The Matthew Shepard
Hate Crimes Prevention Act) was
offered to S. 1391, the FY 2010
Department of Defense
Authorization bill. The
amendment will be voted on in
the next few days. Even
if you have already filled out
our alert, please send in
another email or place another
phone call to your Senators'
offices.
Take Action:
Urge your Senators to support
the Leahy/Collins/Kennedy/Snowe
amendment (The Matthew Shepard
Hate Crimes Prevention Act) to
S. 1391, the FY 2010 Department
of Defense Authorization bill.
The Capitol Switchboard can be
reached at 202.224.3121, or you
can
send an e-mail by entering
your zip code. If you have
already sent an email, we
encourage you to place calls to
your Senators' offices to
reiterate the importance of this
legislation. For more
information, contact Legislative
Assistant
Jason Fenster at
202.387.2800.
Prevent Expansion of School
Vouchers Program
In 2003, Congress enacted a
five-year DC school vouchers
pilot program. Repeated
studies show voucher programs
have no effect on academic
achievement and threaten the
First Amendment's separation of
church and state by using
taxpayer dollars to support
sectarian education. The
program will be gradually phased
out, but students currently in
the program will be allowed to
continue. House Minority
Leader Boehner has submitted an
amendment to the Financial
Services and General Government
Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R.
3170) that would extend the
program to all students, beyond
previously negotiated
compromises.
Take action:
The House could vote on the
amendment to continue the DC
voucher program this Thursday.
Please ask your Representatives
to vote no on any
amendments to H.R. 3170 that
attempt to extend the DC school
vouchers program. The Capitol
Switchboard can be reached at
202.224.3121, or you can
send an e-mail by entering
your zip code. For more
information, contact Legislative
Assistant
Arielle Gingold at
202.387.2800.
Stop the Death Penalty: Save
Troy Davis
In 1991, Troy Davis was
convicted of murdering Georgia
police officer Mark MacPhail,
despite the fact that there was
no physical evidence tying him
to the crime. Since Davis's
conviction, seven of the nine
witnesses have recanted their
testimony, some citing police
pressure to testify.
Take action:
Chatham County District Attorney
Larry Chisholm is being asked to
reopen Troy Davis's case and
allow the consideration of
information that has come to
light since the 1989 trial.
Sign the petition asking
Chisholm to reopen Troy Davis's
case. For more
information, contact Legislative
Assistant
Arielle Gingold at
202.387.2800.
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