Everything Isn’t Total Shit: A Few Good Things Happened Recently
A brief break from the chaos of the world.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted Sonny Burton’s death sentence, sparing him from a wrongful execution.
On March 10, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey commuted Sonny Burton’s death sentence, sparing the 75-year-old from a wrongful execution.
Tens of thousands of people from across the world took part in a mass public pressure campaign to advocate for Sonny’s life. People power saved Sonny.
The Kansas House of Representatives passed a bill that would make clergy in the state mandated reporters.
The Kansas House of Representatives passed House Bill 2352, which would make clergy in the state mandated reporters. Under the bill, clergy who learn about abuse against children (physical, mental, emotional, sexual) will have to report it to law enforcement.
If passed into law, Kansas would join 18 other states that have closed the so-called “clergy loophole” that exempts clergy members from reporting child abuse to authorities.
The Senate passed the most expansive housing affordability bill in 36 years.
The United States Senate on Thursday voted 89-10 to pass a bipartisan bill led by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tim Scott aimed at boosting housing affordability across the country.
As outlined by American Prospect, “the bill creates new programs and federal money for housing construction, promotes manufactured housing, while streamlining zoning and permitting obstacles and improving access to mortgages. A key measure aimed at private equity prevents Wall Street from buying large numbers of single-family homes. The bill would allow construction of single-family homes as rentals, but companies with more than 350 units would have to sell them within seven years.”
Lawmakers in Washington state passed a “millionaires’ tax” bill that will fund education, school lunches, and more.
Both the Washington state House and Senate voted to pass Senate Bill 6346, otherwise known as the “millionaires’ tax” bill.
The law will impose a 9.9% tax on earners making over $1 million per year and will fund education, universal school lunches, and replace or reduce other taxes, among other things, Democratic leaders said.
The bill now heads to Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson, who has already pledged to sign it.
A bipartisan bill to abolish the death penalty in Missouri received a hearing for the first time in a decade.
A Missouri House committee heard testimony on Monday on a bipartisan bill that would abolish the death penalty in the state. It has been ten years since abolishing the death penalty was last discussed by the full House.
House Bill 2153 was introduced by Republican state Representative Jim Murphy and currently has three Democratic cosponsors.
New Mexico’s universal child care program has been enshrined into law.
New Mexico became the first state in the country to offer universal childcare to residents of all income levels following Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signing the measure into law.
The state’s plan will rely heavily on the financial windfall from oil and gas production, including earnings from a recently minted $10 billion trust fund for early childhood education. The plan is estimated to benefit over 30,000 families across the state.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order establishing the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.
On Friday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an executive order establishing the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, fulfilling one of his campaign promises.
Mayor Mamdani appointed Taylor Brown as the office’s director, noting that, with this appointment, “Brown becomes the first transgender person to lead a City office or agency and the highest-ranking transgender person in the history of New York City government.”
The Vermont House passed a bill that creates a pathway for civilians to sue federal agents for civil rights violations.
On Friday, the Vermont House of Representatives voted to pass H.849, which would allow anyone in Vermont to sue a federal officer for “the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution of the United States.”
Claims could include an infringement of someone’s Fourth Amendment rights if federal officers entered their house without a valid warrant, for example.
A court ruled a group that doxed Columbia students can be sued for defamation.
As reported by Hell Gate, "A New York state court ruled this week that a defamation lawsuit can move forward against a group that made websites in Columbia students' names identifying each of them as "Columbia's Leading Antisemite," drove mobile billboard trucks with their pictures and the same epithet around their campus and past their homes, and urged people to "tell the Columbia Board of Trustees to take action against these despicable, hateful students."
Good things are happening around the world as well:
The UK launched its first mobile children’s chemotherapy unit, bringing cancer treatment closer to homes so kids spend less time traveling to the hospital.
Nonprofits and governments are collaborating on an initiative called ARPA Communities that is helping to protect more than 60 million acres of the Amazon rainforest.
Spain extended full universal healthcare coverage to undocumented migrants.
The European Court of Justice ruled that trans people being prevented from changing their legal documents violates their fundamental freedoms.
Chile became the first country in the Americas to have completely eliminated leprosy.
South Korea is launching a pilot program in July to provide free period products in public facilities.
Mexico has introduced legislation to ban all octopus farming nationwide.
Amazing, helpful and comprehensive!