I have been working at EJUSA for almost 19 years, all of them spent beating back our legacy of killing people as punishment for harm they committed. State by state, we have repealed death penalty laws or convinced governors to halt executions to end this terrible, misguided practice that does not make us safer. Now,… Continue reading The Death Penalty in Decline
Author: Sarah Craft
Hope on the Horizon
In a year in which political campaigns and media drove public perception of rising crime to record highs, support for the death penalty in 2022 remains near the lowest it’s been in 50 years. Even among conservatives, support for the death penalty fell five percentage points, despite a barrage of media stoking fear in the… Continue reading Hope on the Horizon
Where is the death penalty movement today?
The prospect of a death penalty repeal has never gotten as far along in Ohio as it has this year. So it seemed like a great time to bring together Jennifer Pryor, Director of Organizing & Community Outreach at Ohioans to Stop Executions, and Sarah Craft, Death Penalty Program Director at EJUSA. They discussed the… Continue reading Where is the death penalty movement today?
Failed by the System
Melissa Lucio is likely innocent, but Texas plans to execute her on April 27 anyway. There’s a real risk that Texas might execute an innocent person next month. Melissa Lucio was tried, convicted, and, in 2008, sentenced to death for a crime that likely never happened. Now, a broad coalition of organizations and experts are… Continue reading Failed by the System
The Momentum Continues
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The past two decades have brought a steady, state-by-state dismantling of the death penalty, and 2021 proved no different. We saw the first former Confederate state repeal the death penalty when Virgina Governor George Northam signed the state’s new law into the books. That stroke… Continue reading The Momentum Continues
Documenting a Movement
For nearly two decades, the death penalty has perished in one state after another. There is no question that America’s most egregious response to violence is on its way out. And Scott Langley has been a powerful force in this movement. Scott is a freelance photojournalist whose passion is documenting the death penalty. His work… Continue reading Documenting a Movement
A Victory for Virginia and the Nation
Today, Governor Ralph Northam signed the bill to repeal Virginia’s death penalty, enacting it into law. Virginia is officially the 23rd state to end its death penalty. The work on the ground to achieve this victory was amazing, including our partners from Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and the Virginia Interfaith Center on… Continue reading A Victory for Virginia and the Nation
Virginia lawmakers vote to end the death penalty
This. Is. Big. Virginia, a former Confederate state that has executed more people than any other state in the country, just just voted to end the death penalty, with the House of Delegates passing an abolition bill 57-41. Virginia’s achievement today once again sounds the death penalty’s demise. But it does more than that. It… Continue reading Virginia lawmakers vote to end the death penalty
From Lynchings to Executions
This week, our allies at the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) released “Enduring Injustice: The Persistence of Racial Discrimination in the Death Penalty System.” For the ever-growing number of people who pay attention to justice issues, that blunt subtitle does not come as a shock. That doesn’t make this report — written by Ngozi Ndulue,… Continue reading From Lynchings to Executions
Highs and Lows
Each December, the team at the Death Penalty Information Center provides an enormous and essential service to justice reform when it releases its annual year-end report. The report tells the comprehensive story—in statistics and graphics, in narrative, and in expert analysis—of the death penalty in the U.S. for the previous 12 months. The reports of… Continue reading Highs and Lows