Weekly Justice Highlights

Milestone for Women: On 2 July, in a historic moment, the UN General Assembly voted unanimously for the establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment, to be known as “UN Women.” The resolution that establishes the new entity is part of a larger resolution on System-wide Coherence (A/64/L.56) and is the result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and active advocacy of women’s groups and civil society.

In the Spirit of St. Vincent: Ask President Obama to deliver a plan that spells out how we can achieve the poverty-fighting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2010 at http://one.org/us/actnow/2015/

Empowering Women: Despite Iran signing a United Nation convention that requires the death penalty only be used for the “most serious crimes” and despite Iranian Parliament passing a law banning stoning last year, stoning for adultery still continues. Sign a petition to stop stoning at http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?vl

Other Potential Actions:
Urge the United States to strength its support of the International Criminal Court in bringing Darfuri war crimes suspects to justice by clicking here (Act this week)

Protect communities from Coal Ash by contacting Administrator Lisa Jackson of the Environmental Protection Agency urging her to adopt enforceable federal safeguards, not suggested guidelines for states, to protect our communities by clicking here (Act this week)

The Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) would sharply curtail mountaintop removal in the United States and protect the valleys, streams and communities that are being devastated by this destructive form of mining. Urge Senators to co-sponsor this legislation at http://www.ilovemountains.org/write-your-senators/ (Act this week)

Contact U.S. Representatives urging them to pass the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act (H.R. 5504) to improve the quality of food and meet the needs of all children at http://capwiz.com/networklobby/issues/alert/?alertid=15238256 (Act this week)

Urge Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani to halt the imminent executions of two Iranian women whose legal rights were violated and to commute their death sentences by clicking here (Act this week)

On July 15, the Senate plans to vote on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This financial reform bill takes some key steps toward breaking the control that Wall Street has over our country – urge Senators to support this bill at http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4023/c/33/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=401 (Act before July 15)

Louisville: A Community Gathering of Mourning and Loss in response to the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster is planned for July 26 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church (4th and York Street). This gathering will include the chance to share with others, music, and deep ecology processes. The event is hosted by Cultivating Connections. Donations are requested.