Press release template
Alert the media as soon as your group passes a moratorium resolution! Customize this press release template, or contact EJUSA for help customizing it. You can send the release to local newspapers (daily and weekly), local talk radio shows, and even newsletters of organizations that might be interested. Don’t forget ethnic or religious press!
Was your resolution adopted by a municipality? See our Press release template for a city/county council resolution.
For Immediate Release: May 22, 2013
Contact: Dorothy Jones, 215-555-5000
First Presbyterian Minister Greg Smith, 610-555-1234
Head your press release with the date and at least one local contact.
Resolution Urges Moratorium On Executions
Hometown's First Presbyterian Church Joins Nationwide Call for Temporary Halt to Executions
HOMETOWN, PA. The First Presbyterian Church of Hometown passed a resolution today calling for a moratorium on all executions in Pennsylvania so the state can study the system, determine if the death penalty is being applied fairly and accurately, and implement any necessary changes.
Open with your current news: local group takes action!
The resolution comes as the death penalty has come under greater scrutiny in Pennsylvania. A new study by the state’s largest University recently revealed that Pennsylvania’s death penalty system could execute an innocent person.
If there’s other current news nationally or in your state, tie it in to your local action.
“More and more Pennsylvanians are deeply concerned that the death penalty is broken,” said First Presbyterian Minister Greg Smith, who supported the church’s resolution. “First Presbyterian is just adding its voice to what is already a growing chorus.”
Quote someone from your group early on, and put the resolution in the context of larger momentum.
Pennsylvania has had several people sentenced to death who were later found innocent. At least one of those exonerated, Sam Smith, was from Nexttown, just over the river from Hometown. Smith was sentenced to death for the murder of Jenny Thomas in 1990. He was on death row for 12 years before his innocence came to light.
Hometown itself is responsible for over half of all death sentences pending in the state. Studies have shown that most people on Pennsylvania's death row were too poor to afford their own attorney.
Minister Smith added, "We want to send a clear message to the state government that our 200 members are deeply concerned that Pennsylvania's death penalty has made mistakes.”
Dorothy Jones of the church's social action committee added, “Our members have many views on the death penalty, but we all agree that how much money you have shouldn’t be the deciding factor in whether or not you get executed.”
Explain why the issue is relevant locally, using facts and quotes from a member of the group that passed the resolution.
In passing tonight's resolution, First Presbyterian joins at least 4,836 national, state, and local groups, including 152 city councils, throughout the U.S. that have called for a moratorium on executions. The national listing of organizations passing moratorium resolutions is maintained by Equal Justice USA, a national organization. For information about the national campaign for a moratorium on executions, visit www.ejusa.org or call Equal Justice USA at (718) 801-8940.
Offer national context and resources for press follow-up
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