Category: Emma done

Funding available for groups serving survivors in Michigan

Michigan has opened an application process for organizations to apply for funds through the Federal Victims Of Crime Act (VOCA).

Michigan is accepting targeted victim services proposals that identify as underserved or unserved crime victims from six purpose areas including trauma recovery centers; human trafficking intervention services; sexual assault intervention services such as core comprehensive sexual assault nurse examiners/sexual assault response teams; victims of child physical and/or sexual abuse; American Indian tribal victim assistance and elder abuse services.

The deadline is June 8, 2017.

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The impact of police shootings on racial trauma | Reimagining Justice This Month

Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism.


The Racial Trauma of Police-Involved Shootings, Psychology Benefits Society
Following the police shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, many are grief-stricken and enraged in communities across the country. The impact of the deaths of unarmed black men and women raises larger questions about the impact of police shootings on racial trauma. This article links race-based trauma to experiences of racial injustice. These wounds persist and have lasting impact, which highlights the need for responses that promote individual and social healing for surviving families as well as the community.

‘Trauma Teams’ To Help Boston Residents In Higher Crime Areas Cope In Wake Of Violence, WBUR
A neighborhood health clinic in Boston is partnering with a community-based organization to help those suffering in the aftermath of homicides and other violence. They connect survivors and their families with trauma services to prevent future violence and expand access to healing support within the community.
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NYC: Join EJUSA for happy hour!

EJUSA’s Associate Board is hosting a Happy Hour next week at Housing Works Bookstore in Soho – and you’re invited!

Please join EJUSA and co-hosts the Columbia Black Law Students Association for drinks and conversation. You’ll meet other like-minded New Yorkers and hear National Organizer Lex Steppling share an update on our work reimagining the justice system, including ending the death penalty, strengthening programs that help crime survivors address trauma and rebuild their lives, and promoting trauma-informed responses to violence that can save lives and help heal communities.
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Racist hate mail a reminder of the death penalty’s true colors

Last month, an African American prosecutor in central Florida received an especially disturbing piece of hate mail: a racist note and a noose.

The prosecutor, State Attorney Aramis Ayala, made national news earlier this year when she announced she would not seek the death penalty in future cases. Her constituents broadly supported the decision, and a grassroots movement sprang up in support. But Florida’s Governor Rick Scott made the reactionary decision to transfer all her death penalty eligible cases to a neighboring prosecutor.

The specter of a white Governor stripping the state’s first black States Attorney of almost two-dozen cases for exercising her lawful discretion was discomfiting enough. But that battle is now buried in a thicket of legal arguments.

Lest the courtroom drama obscure the obvious racial implications of the entire saga, a noose in the mail brings them back into stark relief.

A noose is not just a threat; it’s a symbol of lynchings – which themselves were precursors to the modern death penalty.

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Will Virginia Execute an Innocent Man? – an update from CCATDP

On April 11, we released a letter that has received national attention. It was signed by 25 notable Virginia conservatives calling on Virginia Governor McAuliffe to halt the planned execution of Ivan Teleguz. His execution is scheduled for April 25, despite a complete lack of physical evidence and the fact that two of the three witnesses who originally linked him to the crime have since recanted their testimony. The third witness had incentive to lie because he received a lighter sentence in exchange for testifying against Teleguz.

Considering all of this, there is simply too much doubt to execute Teleguz, and there is reason to believe that he may actually be an innocent man. Thus, pro-life conservatives in Virginia signed the letter respectfully asking Gov. McAuliffe to commute Teleguz’s sentence. You can read it in its entirety and see the signatories here.

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We’re a strong team

In these politically divisive times, EJUSA is as committed as ever to standing together with our partners to fight the death penalty and advance justice and healing.

There is tremendous strength in working together. I know this because of you. Your passion, your persistence, your unwavering partnership with EJUSA has made me – and everyone at EJUSA – stronger.

We’re a strong team. And like all strong teams, we keep our eyes on the prize and never, ever rest on our laurels. We can’t. Too many lives are at stake, and too many communities need our help.

I urge you to continue to partner with EJUSA with a gift of $25, $55, $75, or even $100. Working together, we will transform the justice system from one that harms to one that heals.

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Stand strong with EJUSA

It’s outrageous.

As I write this, Arkansas is planning to carry out eight executions over ten days starting next week. The state plans to execute so many people so rapidly in order to use up nearly-expired (and dangerous) execution drugs.

EJUSA is standing strong against this extreme move, which goes against the national trend toward repeal. Thanks to you, EJUSA’s expert organizers are providing strategic assistance to our partners in Arkansas, and we are mobilizing diverse voices to speak out against this atrocity across the country.

If you are as outraged as I am, I urge you to help EJUSA stand strong against these executions with a gift of $25, $55, $75, or even $100.

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A focus on survivors of violent crime | Reimagining Justice This Month

Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism.

This month, we have a special digest to commemorate National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. This month’s stories focus on crime survivors, their needs in the wake of violence, and challenges facing communities to address those needs.

Christie’s neglect leaves crime victims without help, The Star-Ledger
Only 1/3 of the money that New Jersey is supposed to spend on crime victims actually reaches them. That is devastating for groups who are providing healing services in the most marginalized areas of their communities, addressing unmet needs, specifically in in neighborhoods of color. Through our Police/Community Initiative, EJUSA’s Fatimah Loren Muhammad is working with crime survivors and police in Newark and beyond to reimagine a system in which survivors get what they need in the wake of harm.Continue reading

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Leaving a legacy of healing

Thanks to our dedicated supporters, EJUSA is recognized as an organization that small, local groups seeking justice can turn to for help and assistance. Since 1990, we have been giving free campaign support, training, and strategic assistance to local groups across the country working to end the death penalty, promote healing from trauma, increase services for crime survivors, reduce violence in their communities, and more.

This month, we are making a special request: to help us build a legacy gift program to ensure we can continue to provide these services in the future. We invite you to join us by considering EJUSA in your estate plans.

Making a bequest is a simple way to provide essential support for EJUSA’s future. With very basic language in your will, or by naming EJUSA as a beneficiary of your retirement plan, life insurance policy, or bank account, you can leave a lasting legacy of healing and justice. Bequests of any size make a difference and demonstrate a commitment to the mission and values EJUSA strives to uphold.

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Florida Prosecutor Rejects Death Sentences – an update from CCATDP

Last week, Florida State’s Attorney Aramis Ayala announced that she will not seek any death sentences during her tenure as the prosecutor in the 9th district (serving Orange and Osceola Counties). This is welcome news given that Orange County has historically been one of the leading death penalty counties in America.

There are good reasons to eschew capital punishment. It costs millions more than its alternatives, doesn’t protect society, and can harm murder victims’ families. Most importantly, it risks innocent lives because the criminal justice system is dangerously fallible.

Consider the recent report from the University of California Irvine, where researchers found that more people were exonerated of various crimes in 2016 than in any other year – a total of at least 166 people from only the 25 states that were studied. The same fallibility that led to these wrongful convictions also affects capital cases, and as such, Ayala should be commended for her decision to avoid death sentences during her term.
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