In 1998, Washington’s voters approved Initiative 692, allowing for the use of marijuana for certain medical purposes. However, ambiguities in the law have led to confusion and some patients have faced difficulty with law enforcement officials. This year, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles sponsored legislation, SB 6032, which will clarify Washington’s medical marijuana law. The law adds new diseases to the list of conditions which may be treated with marijuana and requires the Department of Health to submit recommendations to ensure patients have access to a safe source of medical marijuana. The bill was adopted last May and should have been included in our 2007 Progressive Victories Report, a summary of progressive state legislation enacted in the first half of 2007. For more information see CPA’s Medical Marijuana policy brief and model legislation and Sen. Kohl-Welles’ press release.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine has signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in the state. New Jersey’s Assembly and Senate approved S171/A3716 last week. The bill was sponsored by Sens. Raymond Lesniak, Robert Martin, Shirley Turner, and Nia Gill and Assms. Wilfredo Caraballo, Christopher Bateman, Gordon Johnson, Valeria Vainieri Huttle, and Nilsa Cruz-Perez. New Jersey’s legislature is the first in any state to ban the use of the death penalty, and New Jersey has not executed anyone since 1963. For more information, see CPA’s Death Penalty Reform policy brief and model legislation. [NY Times]

A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides further evidence that juvenile offenders who are placed in adult prisons are more likely to re-offend than those kept in the juvenile justice system. The study also found that these juveniles were likely to commit more violent crimes after their release. The Campaign for Youth Justice has also just released a report, “Jailing Juveniles: The Dangers of Incarcerating Youth in Adult Jails in America” which details the risks young offenders face in adult prison, including higher rates of assault and suicide, and the danger of increased recidivism rates. It also contains suggestions for action at the state level. For more information, see CPA’s Juvenile Transfer Reform policy brief and model legislation. CPA’s Summit on the States will feature a workshop on juvenile justice reform (Sunday, December 9) as well as a breakfast discussion for conference attendees interested in the topic (Saturday, December 8). [Washington Post]

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has issued an executive directive forbidding discrimination in employment in the state’s Executive Branch based on gender identity or expression. The order covers nearly 50,000 employees. Public employees in Michigan were already protected from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. On the national level, Congressional leaders have been locked in a battle over whether to include gender identity in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation. However, states are moving forward with providing transgender workers with protection from discrimination in the workplace. Twelve states and Washington D.C. forbid discrimination against public and private employees based on gender identity and four more states protect public employees from such discrimination. Michigan is now one of six states that have an executive order, administrative order or personnel regulation prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity (“Statewide Employment Laws & Policies,” Human Rights Campaign). For more information, read CPA’s GLBT Anti-Discrimination policy brief and model legislation. [AP]

States can do more to use the Internet to keep the public informed, according to a new report from Good Jobs First. The report looked at online disclosure of economic development subsidies, state procurement contracts, and lobbying activities. While every state provides some information on lobbying and procurement contracts, twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia do not disclose details about subsidies online. All states could do a better job of reporting in each category, and the report includes suggestions for improvements. More information on the report, including a breakdown of the individual states’ scores, can be found here on the Good Jobs First Web site. Additionally, Greg LeRoy, the executive director of Good Jobs First will be speaking at CPA’s Summit on the States on Sunday, December 9.

Nine Midwestern governors and one Canadian premier have signed the Midwestern Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord. The agreement will set up targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions, create a market-based cap-and-trade system, and establish a system to track and manage emissions. The governors of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin all signed the agreement but Indiana, Ohio, and South Dakota are joining as observers. North Dakota and Nebraska will join the other states to develop the region’s use of renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. Governors in the Western states, Northeastern, and Southwestern states have signed similar regional agreements. For more information, see CPA’s Global Warming policy brief and model legislation. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has given preliminary approval to a policy which would grant ID cards to any resident of the city, regardless of legal status. If passed, San Francisco would be the largest city in the United States to provide such ID cards. Last year, New Haven, Connecticut began offering similar ID cards. The ID cards will be particularly valuable because they may provide residents of the city with a way to gain access to banking services. Lack of access to services such as bank accounts leaves undocumented immigrants vulnerable to theft which they are then often reluctant to report. In other immigration-related news, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer withdrew his proposal to grant driver’s licenses to all residents, regardless of immigration status, after facing a storm of controversy over the plan. Providing driver’s licenses to immigrants protects public safety by providing the government with accurate identification information for more people. It also protects all drivers by reducing the number of unlicensed, uninsured drivers on the road. Eight states currently allow any residents to apply for licenses. For more information on the subject, see CPA’s policy brief and model legislation on driver’s licenses for immigrants and Gov. Spitzer’s press release. [NY Times]

Governor Deval Patrick has signed a bill which will divest Massachusetts’s pension funds from companies that do business with the government of Sudan. S2255 was sponsored by Rep. Jay Kaufman, Sen. Harriette Chandler, and Sen. Edward Augustus and targets only those companies which are considered the worst offenders of enabling the Sudanese government’s continuing genocide in Darfur. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, and millions displaced in the Darfur region. Massachusetts is the twenty-first state to divest from Sudan. Michigan’s legislature is still considering a similar bill. For more information, see CPA’s Divestment to Support Human Rights In Sudan policy brief and model legislation. [Boston Globe]

Rhode Island’s legislature has repealed a law passed earlier this session that moved 17-year olds into the adult criminal justice system. The law was a misguided attempt to cut costs as the state faced a budget shortfall. However, youth housed in adult facilities require extra protection, making the new law more expensive than simply leaving 17-year olds under the jurisdiction of the family court. SB 1411, sponsored by Senator Stephen Alves, essentially repeals the new law. It also controls costs by sending some offenders to alternative treatment programs instead of the state’s juvenile detention facility. SB 1411 was passed by the Senate at the end of the legislature’s regular session, but not by the House. Unfortunately, the change would not apply retroactively, so approximately 50 youth who have been tried or arrested in the months since the law took effect will remain in the adult system. There is a chance the legislature could take up that issue during next year’s session. The governor has not indicated whether he will sign the new bill. Placing children in the adult prison system increases rates of recidivism and can turn nonviolent offenders into hardened criminals. Furthermore, in Rhode Island, the affected youth would have had permanent adult records, limiting their ability to reintegrate into the community. For more information, see CPA’s Juvenile Transfer Reform policy brief and model legislation. [NY Times, Providence Journal]

Last week the Illinois legislature overrode the governor’s veto of SB 121. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kwame Raoul, replaces a provision which had required juveniles convicted of a sex offense to register as adult sex offenders as soon as they turned 17. Under the new law juveniles may also petition to be removed from the juvenile registry if they demonstrate to a judge that they do not pose a risk to the community. This law recognizes that there are differences between adult and juvenile sex offenders and many juvenile sex offenders do not re-offend. Furthermore, it ensures juvenile offenders do not have their lives ruined by what may have been a youthful mistake or “Romeo and Juliet” situation. At the same time, it gives courts the discretion to protect society from violent offenders who do pose a threat by initially trying them as adults or by keeping their names on the juvenile offender registry. Only law enforcement organizations, schools and day cares have access to the juvenile registry in Illinois. [Chicago Daily Herald]

Ohioans will be able to place a freeze on their credit report under a bill passed unanimously by the Ohio Senate. Sen. Tom Niehaus sponsored SB 6, which would allow any consumer to place a freeze on his or her credit report for a charge of $5 or less. Victims of identity theft would obtain the freeze free of charge. Consumers would then be given a password which could be used to temporarily lift the freeze if they need access to their credit report. The bill would also require public offices to remove certain personal information, including social security numbers, from documents that are part of a public record. The measure now goes to the House, which passed a similar bill earlier this year. The bill follows the state government’s highly publicized loss of a computer tape that contained more than one million residents’ personal information. For more information, read CPA’s Identity Theft policy brief and model legislation. [Toledo Blade]

The Massachusetts Senate has passed a bill which would expand the buffer zone around health clinics that provide abortions. Massachusetts law currently prohibits demonstrators within 18 feet of the clinic. The new bill, SB 1352, sponsored by Senator Harriette Chandler, would require demonstrators to stay at least 35 feet from the clinic’s property. The bill now moves to the House, where it has the support of the Speaker and at least 75 of the representatives. Governor Deval Patrick has also expressed his support for the bill. Fifteen other states have laws that protect facilities which provide abortions. For more information, see CPA’s Health Clinic Protection policy brief and model legislation. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald]

Pennsylvania’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission has approved a regulation proposed by the Department of Health requiring hospitals to provide sexual assault survivors with emergency contraception (EC). Hospitals may apply for an exemption from the rule for religious or moral reasons as long as they arrange to transport patients to a facility that does provide it. The legislature is considering a bill, sponsored by Rep. Daylin Leach, which could preempt the new regulations. HB 288 would require all hospitals to provide sexual assault survivors with information about and access to EC, which can reduce the chance of unintended pregnancy by 95 percent if taken within 24 hours of the assault. Rep. Leach has estimated that half of Pennsylvania’s hospitals do not routinely provide EC to survivors of sexual assault. Voting on the bill was pushed back to give legislators more time to consider their position, but a vote is expected next Monday. For more information, read CPA’s Emergency Contraception for Sexual Assault Victims policy brief and model legislation. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Over the weekend Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took action on numerous bills. Semi-automatic pistols sold in the state must employ microstamping technology by 2010. Microstamping imprints unique characters on bullets as they are fired, which gives police more information to solve crimes. However, the governor vetoed three bills aimed at reforming the criminal investigation process by requiring uniform regulations for police line-ups, recording of interrogations, and corroboration of jailhouse informants’ testimony. The governor also signed a bill banning the sale of any items containing phthalates targeted at children under three. Food containing trans fats will now be banned from school cafeterias and vending machines, but chain restaurants will not be required to post nutrition information. Although a bill granting same sex couples marriage equality was vetoed, seven other measures protecting the rights of the LGBT community were signed. The governor also vetoed the legislature’s health care proposal and it seems unlikely that his plan will receive much support from the legislature, meaning health care reform is likely dead for the year in California. For more information, check the roundups of the end of the regular session at the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

UPDATE: Sorry, we should have mentioned that California Progress Report has a great list of articles and op eds about the end of California’s legislative session and many other resources for progressives in California.

Florida’s decision to restore civil rights to many ex-felons is proving only a partial victory for ex-offenders. Until this year, Florida was one of 3 states that permanently disfranchised anyone convicted of a felony. The new law returns the right to vote, serve on a jury, hold public office, and apply for certain occupational licenses to ex-felons. Released prisoners convicted of nonviolent crimes can automatically have their rights restored, while those convicted of more serious offenses must still go through a lengthy clemency process. The system already faces a backlog of applications which could take years to get through, and the prison system estimates that nearly 300,000 ex-inmates are eligible to have their rights restored. Many may not even know about the rule change and if they do, they must go through a lengthy process to have their rights restored. Furthermore, ex-offenders cannot have their rights, including the right to hold an occupational license, restored until they pay all court-ordered restitution. This provision creates a barrier to employment which just makes it harder for the individual to pay restitution. Gov. Charlie Crist made ex-felon enfranchisement a priority when he assumed office. For more information, see CPA’s Voting Rights Restoration policy brief and model legislation and the ACLU of Florida’s press release. [St. Petersburg Times, NY Times]