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EJUSA and Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty React to California Moratorium on the Death Penalty

Statement by Shari Silberstein, Executive Director of Equal Justice USA:

“Governor Newsom has written a new chapter in the history of justice reform. This is a sweeping move that reflects just how deeply the death penalty has failed. My hope is this will also lead Americans to reconsider our nation’s approach to violence overall. Our overly punitive approach has devastated communities of color, deepened racial disparities, and traumatized millions of families. The death penalty is not the exception, but the epitome, of this misguided approach. We have all the tools we need to address trauma and violence. This moment offers an opportunity to focus resources on healing trauma, building safe neighborhoods, and transforming what true justice looks like in this country.”

Statement by Hannah Cox, National Manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty:

“As conservatives, we applaud Governor Newsom’s decision because the death penalty violates our beliefs in limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the value of life. It is rife with errors and racial bias. The number of men and women on death row who suffer from severe mental illness or impairment is shocking. Capital punishment is a failure and big government at its worst, wasting millions of dollars that could be used to solve cold cases and to make communities safer.”

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EJUSA Announces New Board Chair and Additional Members

EJUSA new board members and chair

Equal Justice USA is pleased to announce that Jesselyn McCurdy will serve as chair of the board of directors. McCurdy joined the board in 2010.

“Jesselyn’s skills and experiences are incredibly important to EJUSA’s work to reimagine the justice system in the United States,” said Shari Silberstein, executive director of EJUSA. “For years now, she has provided critical insight into the many facets of criminal justice, which has helped us focus our programs during this exciting time of strategic growth.”

McCurdy is deputy director of the Washington Legislative Office of the American Civil Liberties Union, where she has worked for more than 13 years over two separate periods. In between, she served as counsel on the House Committee for the Judiciary during the Obama administration. Today, at the ACLU, McCurdy is responsible for defending civil liberties in Congress and in the executive branch in the areas of criminal justice.

“I am honored to have been chosen by this board to take a leading role as we all help guide EJUSA to new heights,” said McCurdy. “The work this organization is doing to transform justice is thrilling. I’m confident that this team—staff and board—will accomplish much to drive lasting change on some of the most pressing issues of our time.”

Eunice Timoney Ravenna, who served as board chair since 2011, will continue to serve as a board member for EJUSA.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without the direction of Eunice,” said Silberstein. “We are incredibly grateful for her dedication as well as her continued commitment to violence prevention and racial equity across the justice system.”

EJUSA also added three new board members. Katisha Andrew is a nonprofit human services administrator currently working for the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center as its Immigrant Opportunity Initiative Contract Manager and Development Coordinator. Ed Chung is the vice president for Criminal Justice Reform at American Progress, where he focuses on reducing the footprint of the criminal justice system while making it fairer, more equitable, and more effective. Jesse Moore, a former White House speechwriter for President Obama, is the founding CEO of Common Thread Strategies, a strategic messaging firm specializing in nuanced narratives, branding, and partnership strategies for change-driven institutions.

 

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Join us for an evening with Sister Helen Prejean

Next Thursday, March 14, Sister Helen Prejean, best selling author of Dead Man Walking, presents Lynching, The Death Penalty, and Beyond, hosted by the UL Lafayette Criminal Justice Society.

The event will take place from 3:30-5:00 pm at the UL Lafayette Oliver Hall, 301 E. Lewis St.

Please RSVP and stop by to take part in this important discussion!Louisiana Prejean Event

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Deep Forgiveness Breaks Cycles of Violence | Reimagining Justice This Month

Newark Skyline

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

Deep Forgiveness Breaks Cycles of Violence, Afro.com
Darryl Green knows trauma and he knows loss. Both a brother and a son were murdered in his hometown of Baltimore. Reconciliation is the focus of his program, Deep Forgiveness. He focuses on healing, and not punishment. That’s how, 25 years after his brother’s murder, he was able to testify for early release on behalf the man who killed him.

Newark Today: Becoming a Trauma Informed City, WBGO
For decades, Newark, NJ, has been wracked by violence, trauma, and poverty. Three women whose lives have been touched by trauma are now on the front lines of community organizing. Each of them are working to put a new public focus on trauma and ending cycles of violence. (Sound starts at 5 minutes)

L.A. County to Build Mental Health Center Downtown—Not a New Jail, Curbed LA
A staggering number of incarcerated people suffer from some form of mental illness. So leaders in Los Angeles started questioning whether it made sense to invest in a new central jail. Instead, they chose to spend $2.2 billion on a new mental health facility that could serve nearly 4,000. Community members and elected officials still have concerns about the new facility, reminding us that reimagining our justice system also requires reconstructing more trauma-informed and humanizing mental health systems.

Justice By the Numbers, Pacific Standard
The First Step Act proved to be controversial from the get go, splitting justice reform advocates on whether it would be effective. A big concern was with how racial bias would manifest in risk assessments. One social scientist is trying to figure out how to make machine learning tools fairer and free of bias, while acknowledging technology’s limits to upending structural injustice.

New Orleans Police Pioneer New Way to Stop Misconduct, Washington Post
The New Orleans Police Department’s new program aims to put the onus of police accountability onto officers themselves. This peer intervention program calls on officers to hold one another accountable to avoiding misconduct and use of excessive force, and has had some promising initial results.

Acclaimed Restorative Justice Program on the Chopping Block in Oakland Unified, EdSource
Just last month, we told you about Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, a program making a deep impact in Oakland schools. We were deeply disappointed to find that that program was losing a substantial amount of its funding, possibly imperiling its existence. We hope that Oakland’s leaders might find a way to fund the program that has supported the potential of so many youths.

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February Updates

New Hampshire Events

New Hampshire is considering death penalty repeal legislation yet again! Next week, there are a series of events in the state that CCATDP supporters are encouraged to attend.

Click here for the full list of events.

Seven States and Counting

A total of seven states have bills to repeal the death penalty that have been introduced this session by Republican lawmakers, and not all states have reached their filing deadline this year. This movement is on trend with what we’ve seen in recent years with more and more conservatives taking a stand for repeal.

Read more here.

CPAC

We will be at CPAC in Washington, D.C. from February 27th through March 2nd. We’d love to see current supporters and meet new ones! If you’re in town, be sure to swing by our booth #616 and say hello!

Restoring Justice Summit

We will also be participating in the Restoring Justice Summit at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA on Saturday, March 16th. The event will take place between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm CT and is hosted by Students for Liberty. If you’re in the area and would like to help us table, please let us know!

Event details here.

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (CCATDP), a project of Equal Justice USA, is a network of political and social conservatives who question the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles and values. For news and updates from CCATDP, join their email list.

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Trauma-Informed Justice in Philadelphia | 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.

Philadelphia Judges Move Slowly Toward Being Trauma-Informed, The Notebook
Philadelphia’s Working to Restore Adolescents’ Power program brings trauma to the center of decision-making for youth who have been charged with a crime. Now, that trauma-informed approach has the chance to ripple through the entire justice system – starting with judges – with the goal of steering justice away from incarceration.

Oakland Demonstrates Right Way to Use Restorative Justice With Teens, Youth Today
Cedric never wanted to sit with his parents, teachers, and school officials to talk about the harm he had done by, among other things, bringing a loaded gun to school. But the restorative justice circle he participated in helped change his life. Restorative Justice Oakland Youth is having such a tremendous impact that the Oakland Unified School District will implement the program across the school system by 2020.

Ending Gun Violence in Our Communities, Medium
When Jamal woke up in the hospital after being shot in the face, one of the first people he saw was Mike Texada, a member of the Wraparound Project. Through this hospital-based violence prevention program, Texada and others like him build trust with survivors of violence, and direct them to financial relief, housing, trauma recovery, education, and employment. Over ten years, the program reduced violent injury recurrence by nearly 75 percent.

Michigan Law Enforcement Agency Employs Formerly Incarcerated People to Bridge the Police-Community Divide, Vera Institute of Justice
In Michigan, a sheriff’s department is employing formerly incarcerated people to do community outreach and help community members get the resources they need to live more full lives. This case study addresses the program’s impact in reimagining justice but also looks at why this kind of work can be a real challenge.

A Socially Minded Oakland Architect Who’s Winning Attention and Awards, San Francisco Chronicle
Reimagining justice can happen anywhere, and come from anyone. Deanna van Buren, a visionary, award-winning architect is designing spaces and places that address inequities in the justice system. From designing community support spaces to mobile support services for women impacted by incarceration to job training centers, van Buren is bringing restorative justice principles to design and focusing on racial, gender, and economic equity for all.

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2019 Updates!

We’ve hit the ground running in 2019 and there’s no slowing down in sight. Check out all the latest news, events, updates, and ways to get involved with CCATDP this year!

Dead Man Walking at the Atlanta Opera

Join us for a special meet and greet with Sister Helen Prejean

On Saturday, February 2nd the Atlanta Opera will open its performance of Dead Man Walking the Opera. You’ve invited to join CCATDP for this special event, featuring a meet and greet with the author of the original book, Sister Helen Prejean. We’re offering our members a discounted ticket rate of 25%. Use the code DMW25 to purchase your tickets through this link. Please let us know if you will be joining us. Our National Manager, Hannah Cox, will be in attendance and would love to say hello!

CCATDP Louisiana Officially Launching!

Sign-up now!

Louisiana is one southern state that has shown immense organic movement to repeal the death penalty. With the Pope’s recent statements on the death penalty, bipartisan support in the state, and more and more conservatives awakening to the problems with the death penalty, there’s a good chance the Bayou State could be saying au revoir to capital punishment sooner than later. That’s why we’re officially launching CCATDP Louisiana. If you or others you know in the area would like to be involved in getting this chapter off the ground, let us know!

From Death to Discipleship

Join the Tennessee Chapter of CCATDP for a special event!

The Tennessee Chapter of CCATDP is hosting an event on Tuesday, February 26th in Nashville that will feature Billy Neal Moore. Moore, a former death row inmate, will share his story of redemption and discuss how God has used his life for good. The event will be held at the Standard, located at 167 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard Nashville, TN, and the doors will open at 5:45 pm CT. Email Amy Lawrence at tnccadp@gmail.com by February 21st to RSVP.

Movement Across the Country

Colorado, Wyoming, and New Hampshire all look primed to pass death penalty repeal measures this year, and each of these states is enjoying bipartisan support in their efforts. If you live in these areas and want to get involved we have lots of opportunities for you to plug in. Email Hannah Cox to find out ways you can help!

Kentucky Events!

Kentuckians, we are headed your way this coming Monday and Tuesday. Our National Manager will be lecturing in a number of courses at Campbellsville University and speaking at a public forum on Monday, January 28th. Come hear her make the conservative case against the death penalty. The event will run from 6:00 to 7:30 pm ET and will be held at the Badgett Academic Support Center Banquet Hall at the University. Click here for full details.

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty (CCATDP), a project of Equal Justice USA, is a network of political and social conservatives who question the alignment of capital punishment with conservative principles and values. For news and updates from CCATDP, join their email list.

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Another Year in Impact – Read the report

2018 Impact report

As the Executive Director of EJUSA, I have a front row seat to the change EJUSA makes every single day on the way to transforming the justice system. I’m deeply grateful to you and our amazing staff, board, and partners for giving me that honor.

That’s why it brings me great pleasure to share with you EJUSA’s 2018 Impact Report.

When I gathered the information for this report, I was awed by what we have accomplished together. From the death penalty to police violence to racial bias to community violence – EJUSA is taking on the toughest challenges to replace harmful systems with healing. Together we are saving lives.

This holiday season, I want to thank you for making our work together possible. Your generosity and encouragement have made 2018 a banner year for EJUSA.

Click here to read EJUSA’s 2018 Impact Report.

Are you ready to make an impact? Give a gift to EJUSA today and you’ll do just that. The first $20,000 in gifts received by December 31 will be matched by a long time EJUSA supporter.

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Equal Justice USA Salutes the Legacy of the Honorable Judge John J. Gibbons

Judge John J Gibbons Fund for Justice at EJUSA

The board and staff of Equal Justice USA mourn the passing of Judge John J. Gibbons, a towering figure in the legal profession, a fierce defender of civil rights, and a critical ally and supporter of Equal Justice USA and its work to transform the criminal justice system, namely through the abolition of the death penalty.

“I will always hold the deepest admiration for Judge Gibbons, who made a conscious choice to use his great influence and exercise his leadership to take on the death penalty,” said Shari Silberstein, executive director of Equal Justice USA. “His role in making New Jersey, in 2007, the first state in four decades to abolish the death penalty cannot be overstated.”

Judge Gibbons served on the executive committee for New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP), which led the repeal effort locally, in partnership with Equal Justice USA. “Thanks to Judge Gibbons, New Jersey set in motion a national movement to right the terrible injustice of the death penalty,” said Celeste Fitzgerald, former director of NJADP and current director of partnerships for Equal Justice USA. “I am honored to have worked with him closely and to have witnessed how he took his moral conviction, shared by so many, and enacted change that will endure.”

In 2017, Judge Gibbons and his family established the Judge John J. Gibbons Fund for Justice at Equal Justice USA, designed to carry on his commitment to the rule of law in service to the protection of respect and dignity for all. “We are honored to play a part in ensuring that Judge Gibbons’ legacy shines through transformational work to end the death penalty across the nation,” said Silberstein.

Learn more about the Judge John J. Gibbons Fund for Justice at Equal Justice USA.

Give a memorial gift.

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Celebrate Giving

Giving Tuesday: #GiveAndShare

Happy #GivingTuesday!!

This wonderful day celebrates generosity by providing people everywhere with an opportunity to give back.

As an EJUSA partner, you give back everyday. From lifting the voices of people harmed by the justice system to fighting the death penalty, you work each and every day for a better and brighter future.

Please continue your fight for justice with a gift to EJUSA on this special day. We need to raise $10,000 today, and we need you to get there!  A long time EJUSA supporter will match all gifts received today up to $5,000 so every dollar you give will be doubled!

GIVE AND SHARE

We have so many powerful plans for 2019. It’s going to take everyone to build a justice system focused on racial equity, healing, and restoration. Please give – as generously as possible – and share the work we’re doing together with others.

#GivingTuesday is a perfect opportunity to let family and friends know why you support EJUSA. Forward this email or post to social media using the links below. You can also hit the “share” buttons after you give at https://ejusa.org/GiveAndShare.

Give the gift of healing with a tax-deductible donation of $25, $50, $75, or $100 to our #GiveAndShare campaign. Thanks to a generous EJUSA supporter, all gifts today up to $5,000 will be matched!

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