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For Immediate Release: June 1, 2007 Media Contact: Hilary McQuie 510-333-8554 Overdose Bill Receives Unanimous California Senate Support SACRAMENTO - California Senate Bill (SB) 767, the Overdose Treatment Liability Act, cosponsored by the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national health and human rights advocacy group working to reduce drug-related harm, the County of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Overdose Taskforce, passed the bipartisan California Senate yesterday in a unanimous vote. Thanks to the leadership of Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, the author of SB 767, California legislators are beginning to recognize the importance of access to naloxone, a very safe drug that lay people, with appropriate training, can safely and properly administer. SB 767 will make it easier for health care professionals to participate in comprehensive drug overdose prevention programs that prescribe the opioid antagonist naloxone, thereby removing a large obstacle to the creation and expansion of such programs in California. This proposed legislation will also make it easier to get naloxone into the hands of the people who are the most likely to be bystanders to opioid overdoses, increasing the likelihood that people overdosing on opioids will receive naloxone promptly. When the Senate Judiciary Committee heard the bill early last month, Sandi McClure, a member of the Los Angeles Overdose Taskforce, delivered powerful testimony about the loss of her daughter, Jennifer, 15 months ago to a heroin overdose. Ms. McClure noted that if her daughter or her friends had access to naloxone and knew how to respond to an overdose, Jennifer might still be alive today. Drug overdose, which is entirely preventable, is the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States. When a person overdoses on opioids (heroin, morphine, methadone, oxycontin, etc.), he/she is rendered unconscious and is in danger of dying because the opioids slow down, and eventually stop, the person's breathing. Naloxone counteracts life-threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems caused by an opioid overdose, allowing an overdose victim to breathe normally. Currently, naloxone can be prescribed only by licensed health care professionals, and has the same level of regulation as prescription ibuprofen. SB 767 protects providers who prescribe take-home naloxone, facilitating greater access to lifesaving medicine for people experiencing opioid overdoses. The Assembly Judiciary Committee will hear the bill later this month. # # # # For more information about the Harm Reduction Coalition, visit http://www.harmreduction.org/.

Project SAFE is an all-volunteer grassroots organization providing advocacy and support for women working in street prostitution. SAFE's mission is to promote human rights-based public health among women working in prostitution on the street in Philadelphia. SAFE is an organization dedicated to ensuring the health, safety and survival of women on the street by providing advocacy, education and support using a harm reduction model. SAFE seeks to reduce the spread of HIV, hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among working women, promote health and safety by arming women with relevant information and resources, and connect women to programs and services which are appropriate to their needs and interests. Sought after is a brave and energetic person who is dedicated to harm reduction philosophy and social justice to take on the position of Executive Director in this new and exciting grassroots organization. The ED will be responsible for the management, direction, and coordination of all activities and will maintain primary responsibility for fundraising, program development and evaluation, program oversight and management, staff supervision and implementation of SAFE's strategic plan. The ED will report to the Board of Directors, and will supervise a staff of three volunteers. The ED's salary is guaranteed for the first three months. The successful candidate will be expected to begin fundraising immediately in order to raise her/his own salary as well as to maintain the program's basic operating expenses. Primary responsibilities in the area of financial management include working with the staff and the board in preparing a budget, and seeing that the organization operates within budget guidelines; ensuring that adequate funds are available to permit the organization to carry out its work; serving as the primary contact for financial management for the government, foundation, corporate and individual donors; and providing regular financial reports to the Board of Directors. Primary responsibilities in the area of fundraising and development include working with the Board of Directors to develop/revise the annual fundraising and development plan, identifying new funding opportunities, and developing and maintaining relationships with existing financial supporters. Primary responsibilities in the area of community and public relations include working with the community to identify local client issues in order to improve programming and build community connections to improve service delivery; working with staff and board to promote the programs and efforts of the organization; and building and managing collaborations and relationships with other community based organizations and government agencies. Primary responsibilities in the area of governance and organizational development include assisting with the development and implementation of an organizational strategic planning process; maintaining a dialogue with the board of directors to ensure board members have adequate information to address and deliver organizational needs; and ensuring SAFE's policies are kept up to date. Primary responsibilities in the area of program development and oversight include working with staff to ensure programs are culturally and linguistically competent and relevant to the target population, and working with staff and board of directors to evaluate programs. Primary responsibilities in the area of relations with staff include recruiting, hiring, and releasing staff and volunteers; encouraging staff and volunteer development and education, and assisting program staff in relating their specialized work to the total program of the organization; and maintaining a climate which attracts, keeps, and motivates a diverse staff and volunteers. The position requires knowledge of nonprofit management, harm reduction and sex work issues. Experience working with sex workers, harm-reduction philosophy, social justice, anti-discrimination strategies, and community organizing is preferred. Individuals with industry experience are encouraged to apply. To apply, please forward your resume and cover letter by June 15, 2007 to: [email protected] Project SAFE is an equal opportunity employer.

Texas: Bill Notifying Formerly Incarcerated Individuals of Restored Voting Status Vetoed Republican Governor Rick Perry this week vetoed bipartisan legislation notifying individuals when they become eligible to vote and sending them a voter registration card, according to a Pegasus News editorial. Perry's reasoning behind the veto was that high school students are not notified of their eligibility; he added that it wasn't the mission of the state's Department of Criminal Justice to send voter registration applications. Debating that stance, the publication responded that high school students do, in fact, receive voter registration applications in government classes, in addition to receiving them when applying for driver's licenses. "The state took away the right to vote for felons, so it's not unreasonable to expect the state to give notice when the right is restored." International: Request for Hearing before Inter-American Commission The Sentencing Project and the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University's Washington College of Law have issued a report, Barriers to Democracy, that requests a hearing on the issue of felony disenfranchisement before the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights. The report examines the practice of felony disenfranchisement in the United States and the nations of the Americas, and finds that the U.S. is far out of line with evolving international norms in this regard. The report concludes that "the time is long overdue for the United States to follow the lead of its hemispheric neighbors and the broader international community, uphold treaties to which the United States is obligated, and take steps toward universal suffrage by reforming its criminal disenfranchisement policies." The request for a hearing has been endorsed by a broad range of civil rights and human rights organizations and individual leaders. These include NAACP Chair Julian Bond, American Bar Association, ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, and many others. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information: Email: [email protected] web: http://www.sentencingproject.org