by Michael Lawson | Nov 19, 2021 | President Message, Advocacy, Race
California houses the second largest prison population in the United States behind Texas and the largest population of people serving long-term sentences. Due to decades of tough-on-crime policies from over-zealous politicians, some of these long-term sentences are...
by Michael Lawson | Aug 20, 2021 | President Message, Advocacy, Politics
Next month’s California recall election on September 14 is a result of direct democracy at work. Since 1911, our state has allowed for recall elections against current officeholders. Every Governor of California has faced a recall since 1960, but a recall effort...
by Michael Lawson | Aug 13, 2021 | President Message, Advocacy, Politics
August 6 marked 56 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified 95 years earlier. The purpose of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was to eliminate the tremendous obstacles that...
by Michael Lawson | Jul 16, 2021 | President Message, Advocacy, Politics
The act of participating in our democracy begins with the right to vote. In 2020, 73% of all voting-age US citizens were registered to vote, and 67% of all citizens age18 and older reported voting, an increase of 17 million more than voted in 2016. We should be proud...
by Michael Lawson | May 16, 2021 | President Message, Advocacy
The month of May is officially Mental Health Awareness Month. This month, we join the national movement to raise awareness of mental health issues, eliminate the stigma associated with mental health and elevate the importance of mental health care providers....
by Michael Lawson | May 1, 2021 | President Message, Advocacy
The current cash bail system in California is classist, racist, and unfair, and the California Supreme Court recently agreed to make a change that will address some but not all of the ills that befall our system. Our state’s top court ruled that it is...
