Resolution on Public Libraries
This resolution on public libraries was offered by LWV of Louisiana at the LWVUS National Convention in Washington, DC, on June 30, 2024, and it was passed with overwhelming support by the delegates to the national convention.
`
offered by the League of Women Voters of Louisiana at the 2024 LWVUS National Convention Sunday, June 30, 2024 ? Washington, DC WHEREAS libraries serve not only as vital hubs of access to information, resources, and programming but also as crucial civic spaces for people to come together to learn, debate, organize, and enjoy a wide range of intellectual, cultural, civic, and recreational opportunities; WHEREAS libraries provide internet access and a range of online resources that contribute to digital equity, both in ordinary times and in situations of emergency and disaster, when they serve as crucial lifelines; WHEREAS libraries are crucial places for citizens and voters gather to access tools and practice the skills of democracy, including through opportunities to participate with professional library staff, library boards, and local governing authorities in setting library policies and programming; WHEREAS libraries have been subject to censorship efforts targeting groups on the basis of age, gender, race and other status, along with calls for defunding and/or privatization that threaten their status as public institutions and public resources; Therefore, be it resolved that public libraries are essential institutions for strong, viable, and sustainable democracies and that access to materials, resources, and programming provided by public libraries is a civil right, which should be enjoyed by all and distributed equitably in our communities. |
League in Focus
From redistricting hearing oberservation in Caddo, to Pride Parade voter registration in St. Tammany and Lafayette, to LWVUS Lobby Day and 2024 National Convention, it has been a busy spring and summer at LWV of Louisiana.
February 26, 2024
Dear Senators and Representatives to the Louisiana Legislature:
The League of Women Voters of Louisiana is a non-partisan, volunteer political advocacy organization committed to keeping our citizens informed. The League does not support political candidates, but we do take policy positions regarding individual rights, good government, and other issues that we deem significant for democracy and public participation in civic life. In particular, we are devoted to voting rights and voter education.
The 2024 Second Extraordinary Session on crime has already violated a number of our national and state policy positions on criminal justice. To start, the League opposes the death penalty and supports its abolition.
When it comes to juvenilei justice, we believe in treating children as children. At the federal level, the League has supported legislation giving judges discretion to reduce juvenile life-without-parole sentences after 20 years and essentially ban juvenile solitary confinement in the federal system. We believe that these policies should be reflected our our state policies to give juvenile offenders opportunities for rehabilitation and a second chances.
With respect to gun policy, the League believes that the proliferation of weapons in the United States is a major health and safety threat to its citizens. The League supports strong measures at the federal level to limit the accessibility and regulate the ownership of these weapons by private citizens. We believe that our policy positions preclude the ready availability of guns without permit or training in gun safety, as has been proposed for Louisiana in the current session.
The Leagues criminal justice position requires a strong, viable system of public defenders, capable of providing adequate counsel to defend indigent accused. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, public defenders, and judges should be provided with training on alternatives to incarceration, including pre-trial diversion and restorative justice practices.
Above all, we at the League believe in a criminal justice system that is just, equitable, and transparent and fosters public trust at all stages, including policing practices, pretrial procedures, sentencing, incarceration, and reentry. There should be a focus on humane treatment and rehabilitation to promote successful reentry into communities of those who have been incarcerated. The policies that the legislature has put forth in this session on crime fail to meet the Leagues criminal justice standards and thwart these important criminal justice objectives.
Respectfully,
Bonnie J. Schmidt, Criminal Justice Committee Chair and Vice President, LWV of Louisiana
M. Christian Green, President, LWV of Louisiana
