Since Equal Justice USA launched MORATORIUM NOW! in 1997, we’ve played a unique national role by forging strong ties to state organizations. States are the frontline of our movement. They are where the vast majority of prisoners are sentenced to death and executed and where grassroots pressure for a moratorium can have the most impact. Our focus on unfairness in how the death penalty is applied has generated new energy and allies for state organizers.
Our goal remains to translate Illinois’ imposition of a moratorium in 2000 into a national phenomenon. 2001 was a breakthrough year for advancing the campaign’s strategy of driving national momentum for a moratorium by winning victories state by state. All total, 19 states considered moratorium legislation in 2001, nearly double the number in 2000.
Our first chance for a win came in January in our home state of MARYLAND. Responding to a ripe political climate, including new leadership from the Senate Majority Leader and the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus, we launched a grassroots mobilization. The coalition included moratorium bill sponsor State Delegate Salima Siler Marriot [D], the Maryland Catholic Conference, Amnesty International, the Maryland Coalition Against State Executions, The Justice Project, and the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
MORATORIUM NOW! mounted a highly effective Maryland campaign.
Our efforts were rewarded in March when a bill imposing a two-year moratorium passed the Maryland House of Delegates by an 82-54 vote! The win attracted daily local and national news headlines. Ultimately, democracy did not prevail. The Senate’s widely anticipated vote for a moratorium bill was short-circuited when a handful of Senators filibustered in the last few days of the session to deny a Senate vote.
After the legislative session ended in April, the newly unleashed grassroots pressure for a moratorium shifted to the Maryland Governor. Throughout 2001, demands mounted on Governor Glendening to impose a moratorium by executive order, pending completion of his own study of fairness in death sentencing.
