Emily Parker

Criminal Justice Reform

Youth Alcohol Bill Conditionally Vetoed, Passed with Governor’s Recommendations

by Emily Parker Leave a comment

The youth alcohol bill (A5610/S3954) was signed into law with amendments following Governor Murphy’s conditional veto on January 8th.

UU FaithAction NJ joined ACLU-NJ and coalition partners in opposing this legislation, which sought to reinstate fines and criminal consequences for youth alcohol possession.  The bill also sought to make it more difficult to charge a police officer with deprivation of civil rights when police detain or search a young person suspected of cannabis or alcohol possession.  UUs across the state responded to our Action Alert to contact to their senators on December 20th and flooded the Governor’s Office with phone calls during our January Action Hour.

Read More “Youth Alcohol Bill Conditionally Vetoed, Passed with Governor’s Recommendations”

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Duckling

by Emily Parker Leave a comment

The brief window between November elections and the convening of the new legislature in January—known as the “lame duck”—is a critical time in New Jersey politics.  Heading into this lame duck season, we entered arm-in-arm with a broad coalition of our partners, calling with one voice for The People’s Lame Duck Agenda.

The current legislature adjourns on January 8th, 2024.  Here’s a look at how we did.

Read More “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Duckling”

Rally for Clean Energy!

by Emily Parker Leave a comment

Join us on Monday, December 18th to tell the NJ Legislature:

YES to 100% Real Clean Energy (S2978/A4658)
NO to Unaffordable Dirty Gas (A577/S1366)

Please note: the rally scheduled for December 18th has been canceled.

We are in a climate emergency, and right now two bills are under consideration in the New Jersey legislature that could make or break our state’s transition to clean energy.

Join us on Monday, December 18th, at 9 AM in the Statehouse Annex Courtyard in Trenton to rally for a clean energy future for New Jersey!

Read More “Rally for Clean Energy!”

Environmental Justice supports Permanent Community Solar

by Emily Parker 1 Comment

This month, our Environmental Justice Task Force submitted comments to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on the permanent Community Solar Program.

“New Jersey’s Community Solar Energy Program allows those who rent, lack control of their roof, live in a multi-family building, do not have property suitable for solar, or cannot afford the cost of a solar installation to benefit from the cost savings and access to clean energy through solar power,” according to the NJ Board of Public Utilities.  The permanent Community Solar Program was established this August, following a successful two-year pilot program.  We vocally support this program first and foremost for its ability to create access to solar energy for renters and low-income households.

Read More “Environmental Justice supports Permanent Community Solar”

Delivering The People’s Lame Duck Agenda

by Emily Parker 1 Comment

Today, UU FaithAction NJ joined with a powerful coalition of justice-seeking community organizations to hand-deliver The People’s Lame Duck Agenda to legislators across the state!  We are urging our legislators to pass critical racial and social justice legislation to move our democracy forward.

Rev. Charles Loflin visited the office of Senator Nia H. Gill, along with Micauri Vargas of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and Eric Benson of New Jersey Policy Perspective.  Nancy Griffeth, Board Trustee, also visited the offices of Senator Jon Bramnick, Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz, and Assemblywoman Michelle Matsokoudis, along with Bill Griffeth and Rosella Clyde of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey.

All together, our coalition visited every state senator and assemblyperson’s office in New Jersey.

Read More “Delivering The People’s Lame Duck Agenda”

Policy 5756 Statement of Support

by Emily Parker 1 Comment

As Boards of Education across New Jersey are considering repealing Policy 5756—i.e. the “Transgender Student Guidance for School Districts” policy—our Reproductive Justice Task Force is eager to share a resource to empower UUs to speak up.

📄 “Policy 5756 Statement of Support” PDF download

Our sample Policy 5756 statement of support is intended as a resource for UUs who wish to make comments in support of policy 5756 and trans students at their local school board meetings.

Many thanks to Rev. Rosemarie Newberry and to Garden State Equality for their contributions.

Read More “Policy 5756 Statement of Support”

Action Hour a Success!

by Emily Parker Leave a comment

Good news—our first-ever “First Friday Action Hour” was a success!

On Friday, November 3rd, twenty-five UUs gathered to dedicate their lunch hour to advocacy.  Together, in one hour, we learned about the Values Act, made 40+ calls, and sent 40+ messages to state representatives via the NJAIJ action form.  This was tremendous for our first time!

The hour was also FUN, and we received great feedback!

We hope you will join us next time, for our critical Lame Duck Action Hour, on Friday, December 1st, 12–1 PM.

Bookmark our Action Hour instructions, updated monthly — bit.ly/1st-fridays

Promote Action Hour in your congregation — Outreach Toolkit

Join us the first Friday of every month, 12-1 PM, to actively promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations!