The Moratorium Now campaign hits a milestone
What do the following places have in common? A church basement. A Democratic Club board meeting. City council chambers. A union hall. In places like these across the country, ordinary people debated the death penalty, examined the issues, and decided collectively to add their group’s name to the National Tally of groups calling for a moratorium on executions. Four years after Equal Justice USA launched the Moratorium Now! campaign, that Tally has reached 2,000 groups.
Concerns about the death penalty range from racial and class bias to ineffective lawyers to the execution of the mentally retarded and the mentally ill. Resolutions give groups representing any one of those concerns the opportunity to join a national movement to halt executions.
Local governments continue to weigh in as well, with Nashville, TN, Dayton, OH, New Castle, NY, and Macon, GA among the most recent. Because crime, law enforcement, and the funding of prosecutors’ offices all begin at the local level, local governments are the most logical way for elected leaders at the city level to represent the concerns of their citizens to representatives at the state level.
State legislators in Ohio attended the Cincinnati City Council hearing to testify in favor of the council passing a moratorium resolution, explaining that the action would have an impact on their efforts at the statehouse.
What next?
The resolution drive is continuing through the 2,000 mark. Resolutions continue to be a valuable tool for state and local groups to build support for a moratorium on executions. The opportunity to effect public opinion is priceless.
You can still make a difference! Taking a resolution to your faith community, city council, or other local group is easier than you think. Our organizers can walk you through it step-by-step. For sample resolutions and the full National Tally, see www.quixote.org/ej or call us at 301-699-0042.
Who makes up the National Tally?
Mental health groups like…
…the American Psychological Association
…The Arc (the Association of Retarded Citizens) of Arizona and Virginia
…the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Nashville, TN Chapter
…the New Jersey Association of Black Psychologists
Attorney’s groups, including…
…6 state bar associations
…14 county or regional bar associations
…the American and National Bar Association
Labor unions, such as…
…the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Hospital Workers (Rochester, NY)
…the Central Oklahoma Labor Council
Civil rights groups like…
…the NAACP
…the Western Regional Office of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Businesses, such as…
…Deluxe Cleaners (Roxboro, NC)
…Crabtree Farms of Chattanooga, TN
