Category: Uncategorized

N.J. awards $20M to address trauma and violence in hospitals

Reimagining Justice This Month | February 2020

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

To combat gun violence, N.J. awards $20M to hospitals for intervention programs
New Jersey isn’t the first state to see how violence intervention can be powerful in the hospital setting, but its initial investment in this vital work suggests a firm commitment. EJUSA was proud to partner with a team of advocacy and community-based organizations to educate state leaders about how addressing trauma quickly and comprehensively can sharply reduce violence. And we’re going to urge those same lawmakers to invest in community-based strategies that have also shown dramatic achievements.

Flight School focuses on children dealing with traumatic situations
A child-parent psychotherapy program in Ohio called the Flight School focuses on joint healing of trauma for families, and especially children, exposed to violence, some type of abuse, or neglect. While the program serves all age ranges, it emphasizes assisting children in navigating trauma so that they have the healing and support needed to grow into healthy adults.

Treating mothers’ trauma as a way to prevent youth violence
Sisters United Resilient and Empowered, or SURE Moms, is an Ann Arbor, MI program that addresses the trauma of mothers so they can develop strong relationships with their children and prevent future violence. “The mother has to do their emotional work first,” said Leah Mills, a social worker and trauma therapist in Washtenaw County, who assists with SURE Moms. “When they become healthy, they can give their children the emotional support the children need.”

Scientists report gains in treating kids suffering chronic trauma
A noninvasive brain therapy that has been used to treat PTSD among veterans is being used to address chronic childhood therapy. Scientists have reported “enormous positive gains” for children who’ve participated, including increased sleep and emotional regulation, and a decrease in dissociative behaviors often linked to un-treated trauma. This is a promising step toward treating young people to help them heal trauma and live healthier lives.

Tree of Life brought out a ‘collective compassion.’ Now a Pittsburgh group uses faith to help others facing trauma.
Pittsburgh is still suffering from last year’s mass shooting. Faith groups are coming together to explore and heal the trauma that is felt by so many. “Our traumas might not be the same,” said Geraldine Massey, a counselor at Center for Victims, who lost two sons to gun violence, but dialogues across communities are a way to learn about and “acknowledge each other’s trauma.”

EJUSA’s mission is to transform the justice system by promoting responses to violence that break cycles of trauma. We work at the intersection of criminal justice, public health, and racial justice to elevate healing over retribution, meet the needs of survivors, advance racial equity, and build community safety.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Healing the Trauma That Endures

In January 2020, EJUSA board member Lisa Good joined five other people for a roundtable discussion, moderated by actress Julianne Moore, about the enduring—and often ignored— trauma that survivors face in the aftermath of gun violence.

The discussion came on the heels of National Gun Violence Survivors Week, highlighting the experiences of survivors and what they wish others knew about how trauma sustains. 

Like her fellow roundtable members, Lisa’s story is deeply personal. When she was 17 years old, her cousin Jay was murdered. Lisa received no support after this loss, and instead of being able to heal, she fell into severe depression and feelings of survivor’s guilt that lasted well into her adulthood. 

“The cycle of trauma and how trauma fuels violence… is something that we can’t ignore,” Lisa says. She describes how not receiving acknowledgement and support for her trauma lead her to feel immense depression and survivor’s guilt for years. In the midst of this trauma, she experienced a violent sexual assault, and sought her own revenge for what had been done to her. 

“In that moment, with that layer of trauma, I wanted a gun…and if that gun had been accessible, I would have been looking for that person who violated me,” she recalls. 

After decades of grappling with the loss of one of her closest family members, Lisa founded Urban Grief, a nonprofit based in Albany, New York, that provides trauma-informed support to survivors of violence. For her, founding the organization was not a way to heal herself, but to fill the critical gap in support that exists for survivors in the wake of gun violence. 

“What people don’t understand is that the loss and the trauma is enduring. It evolves, you mature, you grow, you heal, but it’s still enduring,” she says.

Watch the video below to learn more from Lisa and other survivors on the importance of trauma-informed care, and the often overlooked nuances that arise in the wake of violence.

WATCH THE FULL PROGRAM HERE

Filed under: Uncategorized

Prioritizing the Community | 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.

Prioritizing the Community: Funding Alternatives to Reduce Reliance on the Justice System in Oakland
The city of Oakland is becoming a leading model for hospital- and community-based violence intervention programs. These programs work with communities most harmed by violence, providing solutions that rely on resources and support rather than law enforcement and incarceration.

Baltimore takes step toward becoming ‘trauma-responsive city’
The Baltimore City Council hopes to form a “Trauma-Informed Care Task Force,” putting the city farther down the path to becoming a trauma-responsive city. Through this task force, the city seeks to normalize discussions about trauma and assist young people who must grapple with it in their daily lives.

Shelby County Schools counselor writes children’s book hoping to help students cope with gun violence
During the first three quarters of 2019, 133 people died from gun violence in Memphis, Tennessee. After seeing the trauma her students experienced in the wake of such violence, one school counselor wrote a book to help children cope with losing their loved ones.

Maryland should follow D.C.’s lead on youth rehabilitation
Washington, DC, is using different approaches to help system-involved young people. One is called the Young Men Emerging Unit, which “provides trauma-informed treatment and healing, counseling, restorative justice practices and workforce preparation.” The goal is to address the needs of those in the criminal justice system rather than just punishing them.

How Hospitals Are Helping to Reduce Gun Violence
Hospital-based violence interventions are gaining popularity as an alternative to traditional approaches to ending community violence, which typically rely on police and punishment. These incredible programs work with survivors of gun violence to ensure that they have the social and emotional support needed to heal and prevent retaliatory violence.

Filed under: Uncategorized

The New EJUSA Website!

I’m so proud to kick off 2020 with two big announcements.

First, EJUSA is turning 30 years old this year! And we’re celebrating this milestone with this new website!

The site is a declaration of our bold vision for justice reimagined. With your support, we’re transforming what justice is. We’re rejecting mass incarceration, executions, police violence, and racial injustice. Instead, we’re building the new systems we want — systems that deliver safety, healing, and accountability that restores to everyone affected by harm.
That vision is the foundation of our new website.

Take a special look at our What is Justice? page to learn how — together — we will get there.

If you like what you see, please share the page on social media or email a link to three friends.

Then take a longer look around. Explore our programs, issues, and our team and board.

Anniversaries are opportunities to reflect on history and chart new paths for the future. We can’t rest on past victories when there are 2.2 million people behind bars, more than 2,500 people on death row, and millions of incidents of community violence, sexual violence, racial violence, and violence by the justice system every year.

Stay tuned over the coming months as I share history, stories, and strategies from the past three decades.

As a member of the EJUSA family, this anniversary is yours too. Congratulations!

Filed under: Uncategorized

Families of Murder Victims to Call on Lawmakers to End the Death Penalty

Family members of murder victims will gather for a press conference at the Colorado State Capitol Monday morning to call on lawmakers to end Colorado’s death penalty. Below is the letter they will be presenting, signed by more than 55 Coloradans who have lost loved ones to violence.

January 27, 2020

To the Members of the Colorado Legislature:

Each of us has had a loved one taken from us by senseless violence. At a moment none of us could have predicted or prepared for, tragedy robbed from us children, parents, spouses, siblings, and other family members. Our direct experiences with the criminal justice system and our struggles with grief have led us all to the same conclusion: Colorado’s death penalty fails victims’ families.

We never asked to be in this position and would do anything to change it. Nothing can erase the pain that a senseless act of violence brought into our lives, but we can honor the memory of our loved ones, and other families who may face tragedy, by working for effective responses to violence.

The reality of the death penalty is that it drags on for decades. In Colorado, only one person has been executed in more than fifty years. Victims’ families in capital cases go back to court for years on end where the press replays the details of the crime again and again. The result is that the defendant is turned into a celebrity while the victim’s family waits for justice that never comes. This system burdens the justice system, taking resources from both programs that are proven to improve public safety and also from solving the over 1,300 homicide cold cases in Colorado.

The death penalty is said to be reserved for “particularly heinous murders.” We have difficulty understanding this position. The implication is that other murders are “ordinary.” From experience, we can tell you that every murder is heinous to the family of the victim. As Colorado holds on to its broken death penalty system – cherry-picking cases to receive the disproportionate attention and resources of a capital trial – it wastes millions of dollars that could be spent on policies that benefit all victims.

As you consider whether to keep or end Colorado’s death penalty, we urge you to make the choice that best serves the interests of victims’ families. We hope you will conclude what we have: that the death penalty fails victims’ families. We urge you to repeal Colorado’s death penalty.

Respectfully,

Ezra Aldern of Denver
Son of Wendy Mae Aldern, murdered in AuroraBob Autobee of Pueblo
Father of Eric Jason Autobee, murdered in the Limon Correctional Facility

Victoria Baker-Willford
Daughter of Carolyn Jansen, murdered in Aurora

Dale Beck of Estes Park
Brother-in-law of Christine Ann Clark, murdered in Wisconsin

Margaret Beck of Estes Park
Sister of Christine Ann Clark, murdered in Wisconsin

Katie Benson Smith of Cotopaxi
Daughter of Sergeant Mary K. Ricard, murdered in the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Crowley

Rachel Beutel-Hadley of Aurora
Daughter of Tammy Augustine, murdered in Iowa

Linda Burks-Brown of Denver
Sister of Willie Frazier, murdered in Denver

Brenda Carrasco of Denver
Cousin of a victim, murdered in Denver

Pastor Mike Pennington Devine of Denver
Father of Devon T Sutton, murdered in Florida

Barbara Scout Dunn of Fort Collins
Sister of John Kent Breckenridge, murdered in The Caribbean

Judith Elane
Sister of Ronald Eugene Schlatter, murdered in Denver

Frank C Evans of Denver
Uncle of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Mable Inez Evans of Aurora
Grandmother of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Sharletta Evans of Aurora
Mother of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Tilisha Evans of Denver
Cousin of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Robert M May of Denver
Brother-in-law of a victim, murdered in Oregon

William H Mayes Evans of Aurora
Uncle of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Rachel Jean Gaines of Aurora
Sister of Frederick Leon Martin, murdered in Missouri

Jean Gregory of Denver
Mother of Steven Gregory, murdered in Aurora

Sean Gruno of Westminster
Nephew of Polly Elizabeth Sullivan, murdered in Denver

Senator Lucia Guzman of Denver
Daughter of Tom Guzman, murdered in Texas

Lieutenant Hollis of Denver
Uncle of Faye Johnson, murdered in Denver

Calvin Hurd of Aurora
Brother of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Lori Janssen of Bolder
Daughter of Helen and Richard Pelham, murdered in Golden

Arlis Keller of Greeley
Sister of Dwight Tobyne, murdered in Arizona

Brian Keller of Greeley
Brother-in-law of Dwight Tobyne, murdered in Arizona

Sherri Landrum of Denver
Mother of Kurt Lydell Levias Jr, murdered in Denver

Francey Kuizenga Liefert of Loveland
Daughter of Rev. Dr. Henry Kuizenga, murdered in California

Angela Lee of Denver
Mother of Gailen J Armstrong, murdered in Denver

Frank D Lytle of Colorado Springs
Son-in-law of Johnnie Banks Sr, murdered in Indiana

Rosemary Harris Lytle of Colorado Springs
Daughter of Johnnie Banks Sr, murdered in Indiana

Cathleen Maestas of Denver
Mother of Geranimo ‘Mo’ Maestas, murdered in Denver

Antoinette Martinez of Denver
Mother of David Martinez, murdered in Denver

Tom Mauser of Littleton
Father of Daniel Mauser, murdered at Columbine High School in Littleton

Bernard Mayes of Aurora
Nephew of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Michalla Mayes-Milliner of Aurora
Cousin of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Elvira Maxwell
Mother of Darron Dwayne Sneed and Charles Sneed Jr., murdered in Denver

Dr. Mary McNeil-Jones, PhD of Denver
Wife of Wayne McNeil, murdered in Kansas

Rebecca L Oakes of Denver
Daughter of Marge Kohnberg, murdered at Chuck-E-Cheese in Aurora

Sara Perez of Denver
Aunt of Deont’a McDonald, murdered in Denver

Angell Pérez of Denver
Cousin of Anthony Montoya Jr, murdered in Thornton

Michael Pinelli of Englewood
Brother of Anthony Martinez, murdered in Illinois

Amy Plapp of Colorado Springs
Sister of Steven F. Plapp, murdered in Texas

Lynn Porter of Aurora
Aunt of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Susanne D Price of Denver
Mother of André Price, murdered in Denver

Alice Randolph of Lakewood
Mother of Loren Anthony Collins, murdered in Aurora

Kristopher Randolf of Thornton
Brother of Loren Anthony Collins, murdered in Aurora

Tim Ricard of Crowley
Husband of Sergeant Mary K. Ricard, murdered at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Crowley

Gail VanderJagt Rice
Sister of Denver police officer Bruce VanderJagt, murdered in Denver

Dr. Robert Rice
Brother-in-law of Denver police officer Bruce VanderJagt, murdered in Denver

Gail Rogers of Aurora
Cousin of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Priss Sanders of Denver
Daughter-in-law of Stacey Coad, murdered in Denver

Marilyn Shelton of Denver
Mother of Tyrone Ivan Adair Jr “BossMan Goodie,” murdered in Denver

Christine Sykes of Denver
Aunt of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

Carissa Tomlin of Aurora
Niece of Fredrick Leon Martin, murdered in Missouri

Barbara Otte Voss of Grand Junction
Sister of Thomas E. Otte, murdered in Connecticut

Charles Derrick Waits of Denver
Father of Dawan Derrick Childress, murdered in Denver

Monica Lynette Waits of Denver
Stepmother of Dawan Derrick Childress, murdered in Denver

Isaiah Ward of Denver
Cousin of Kerrick Summers, murdered in Denver

Thomas G Ward Jr of Colorado Springs
Brother-in-law of Steven F. Plapp, murdered in Texas

Dominae Ware of Aurora
Niece of Fredrick Leon Martin, murdered in Missouri

Roy Wayne Watley of Aurora
Cousin of Casson Xavier Evans, murdered in Denver

David Works of Denver
Father of Stephanie & Rachel Works, murdered at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs

Marie Works of Denver
Mother of Stephanie & Rachel Works, murdered at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs

Davida Young of Denver
Family member of a murder victim

Filed under: Uncategorized

Another Year in Impact: Read the Report

Looking back on 2019 reminds me of what an incredible experience it is to do our work. Reflecting also confirms how 2019 set us up for yet another decade of monumental change. I am so grateful for our team, board, partners, and supporters like you because you all make the work successful. And I’m excited to share some of the greatest moments from this year with you, through our 2019 Impact Report.

EJUSA's 2019 Impact Report

In May, we saw the end of a long battle when we sat with our partners in the New Hampshire legislature and watched lawmakers end the state’s death penalty — one more sign that the death penalty is on its way out.

Four years ago, we launched Trauma to Trust, a training program that brings police and community members together to foster empathy and understanding of trauma. Since then, we’ve trained over 500 officers and community members in Newark, NJ, and are continuing to expand our reach.

Within that same amount of time, we’ve raised more than $4 million for community organizations across the nation that are serving survivors of violence and trauma.

Please take a few minutes to read about the other milestones and key moments of 2019. Everything we do is driven by our vision for justice reimagined.

READ THE REPORT HERE  

We’ve achieved so much this year and will continue to bring the change we wish to see with you by our side. Make your own impact by giving a gift to EJUSA today.

Filed under: Uncategorized

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 recent years document an undeniably positive trend. Capital punishment is on the way out. Some highlights:

  • 2019 is the fifth straight year of fewer than 30 executions. In fact, the 22 executions this year marks the second lowest number in the past 30 years.
  • The number of death sentences also continues to plunge. There have been less than 50 new sentences for each of the last five years.
  • With full repeal of the death penalty in New Hampshire plus the moratorium imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, half of all states do not have a functioning death penalty system.

But the report makes clear the horrifying truth about the death penalty—our most vulnerable people are those most likely to suffer the injustice of an execution. Of the 22 men executed in 2019, 19 of them suffered from serious mental illness, some type of brain impairment, substantial childhood trauma, or some combination of the three. We failed each of those men over and over by not recognizing and treating their trauma before it led to violence.

Problematic Executions in 2019

Two of the men — one in Alabama and one in Texas — had significant claims of innocence but were executed anyway. And several other of the 22 had “demonstrably faulty legal processes” that ultimately led to their executions.

As a nation, we should be ashamed.

Actions by the Trump Administration also complicate the positive developments. This past summer, the Department of Justice announced plans to resume federal executions after a 16-year hiatus. While we expected this to happen, the reality of it doesn’t change the fact that it is completely out of step with the way the country is moving.

For proof, look at the work that we have done through Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. Over six years, that project has revealed that repealing the death penalty is a bipartisan issue. The nearly 1,000 media stories in the last year alone about growing conservative resistance to capital punishment demonstrates that this isn’t about a small constituency.

The latest national poll about the death penalty serves as further proof: about 60 percent of Americans do not believe the death penalty is an appropriate response to a murder.

Our work continues. We’re working in several states that have the ingredients to take big steps toward ending the death penalty in the next few years. Make no mistake — someday there won’t be the need for a year-end report on the death penalty.

Filed under: Uncategorized

The Gibbons Fund — Our First Three Years

2019 Gibbons ReportEJUSA launched the John J. Gibbons Fund in 2016 to honor the life and legacy of Judge John J. Gibbons, former Chief Judge of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Gibbons was a tireless advocate who used his position to protect and expand civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in our nation. Throughout his career, he represented several individuals serving sentences on death row, and played a critical role in the historic 2007 repeal of New Jersey’s death penalty. His compassion and deep commitment and contributions to justice have inspired us all, and we are honored to have worked alongside him to end our nation’s death penalty. 

Over the past three years, generous donors to the Gibbons Fund have made investments that have allowed EJUSA to further our work to end the death penalty nationwide. We are happy to be joined by passionate individuals and advocates in the legal field who are committed to creating the justice system that our nation needs and deserves. 

Learn more about the work made possible by the Gibbons Fund by reading the report here [PDF]. 

EJUSA thrives due to the support of donors to the Gibbons Fund, and people like you. Click here to give, and to support us in creating approaches to justice rooted in fairness, equity, and humanity. 

Filed under: Uncategorized

The world has lost a giant

It is with a broken heart that I’m writing to share the news that one of our founding board members, Jonathan E. Gradess, passed away last week.

I met Jonathan 15 years ago, on the eve of the nation’s first successful death penalty abolition campaign. The courts had just thrown out New York’s death penalty and the legislature promised to meet in six weeks to “fix” the law and get capital punishment back up and running in no time. But EJUSA and our state partners, New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, believed the people were ready for change. We were right. Ten months later, New York became the first state legislature to dismantle its machinery of death. Since then, eight more states have followed suit.

Jonathan and I worked side by side during the campaign. He was wise, brilliant, and loving. He imagined a bold future of healing, restoration, and safety for all. Jonathan held the people harmed by violence and the justice system close in his heart, driven every day to fight for a better day.

Soon after the historic repeal, we founded EJUSA. For more than a decade since, Jonathan was my rock, my mentor, and my friend. He believed in EJUSA’s vision of transformation – a vision he helped to shape – with his full heart. He marshalled every resource to shepherd EJUSA from a fledgling organization to a force for justice and healing.

He did all this while running his own organization, the New York State Defenders Association, for 39 years, serving on countless boards, writing poetry, making art, and enjoying a wonderful family. He had the unique power to hold a big picture vision of justice while also making time for the small moments of kindness and love that drive the world.

Jonathan’s generous heart and soul wrapped around the world and touched more lives than anyone knows. In the darkest moments of unchecked power, cruelty, injustice, and defeat, Jonathan could find the source of light and point us all towards it.

It seems fitting that in the darkness of his passing, I turn to his own words to find the light.

Being here for each other is the miracle of living.
Even when you know this, you forget it, or it evades you, or you lose it, or you
let things get in the way, or you doubt it, or stuff pushes it back, or you get so
overwhelmed you cease to believe. Don’t let it get away from you.

Goodbye to a hero and a friend.

In memory of Jonathan, we continue to fight for justice, together.

You can read more about Jonathan’s rich life of service and share words of support with his family.

Filed under: Uncategorized