Breaking 2,000

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

By Shari Silberstein

Since 2000, Shari Silberstein has dedicated her career to transforming the justice system from one that harms to one that heals. Under her leadership, and using campaign strategies she helped develop, Equal Justice USA has helped end the death penalty in nine states, built first-of-its-kind conservative and evangelical coalitions for justice reform, secured millions in state funding for healing services to families of murder victims, launched an innovative model for training and dialogue between police and communities on trauma and race equity, and strengthened dozens of local organizations across the nation working for justice, violence reduction, and healing. Shari has been a national voice in helping to break down the silos between criminal justice reformers and crime survivor advocates. Her expertise has been a source in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, and Harper’s Magazine, and she has written op-eds for an array of media outlets, including Fox News, the Marshall Project, and U.S. News and World Report. Shari has a bachelor's degree in film from New York University and a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Texas at Austin.