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Last month, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), made up of Cabinet-level Secretaries of US government agencies that deal with issues surrounding homelessness, unveiled a new strategy to combat the rising number of families, especially veterans, without a stable home. The plan sets out four objectives: "(1) Finish the job of ending chronic homelessness in five years; (2) Prevent and end homelessness among Veterans in five years; (3) Prevent and end homelessness for families, youth, and children in ten years; and (4) Set a path to ending all types of homelessness." The document sets out a number of other smaller goals, and includes 52 strategies meant to help national and regional agencies better collaborate. Of course, as with all proposals, as Nan Roman, President... 
The Fair Sentencing Act passed in the House today, and since it already passed in the Senate back in March, it will now go to President Obama for his signature. This historic legislation will reduce the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing, and also direct federal resources toward large-scale drug traffickers. The 100-to-1 sentencing ratio was instituted in 1986, in large part to combat the scourge of violence accompanied by crack cocaine usage in some of our nation's largest cities, and instead has unduly targeted low-level crack offenders: before today's changes, a person with five grams of crack received a mandatory sentence of five years in prison, while that same person would have to possess 500 grams of powder cocaine to earn the... 
July 21st was a landmark day for Native Americans, and all those who are concerned about their lives. Last week, the Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments Act (H.R. 725) passed by an overwhelming majority in the House (326 Yeas) and will now be signed into law by President Obama. While the name of this bill sounds relatively inconsequential, it is actually far-reaching legislation, which will make a profound difference in the lives of tens of thousands of Native Americans, especially Native American women. H.R. 725 includes the Tribal Law and Order Act, which aims to reform the justice system by establishing accountability measures for federal agencies responsible for investigating and prosecuting reservation crime, and by providing tribes with additional tools to combat crime locally. President... 
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