In many ways, 2001 was a laboratory year in which state-based moratorium strategies were tested and strengthened. 2002 offers new openings to advance the national movement.
We embark on a multi-year organizing offensive, State by State: from the grassroots to the statehouse. The aim is to improve and expand our national efforts to strategically sharpen, capacitate, and resource promising state moratorium initiatives.
Our first opportunity for a 2002 win comes in the spring of this year in the NEW JERSEY State Legislature, where a moratorium bill has been introduced with bi-partisan support. Via our Field Office and reinforcements from our national organizing staff, we will provide priority assistance to our state partner, New Jerseyans for a Death Penalty Moratorium, with a push for a victory this year.
At the same time, MORATORIUM NOW! will provide training and technical assistance to over a dozen state initiatives throughout the country, cultivating future moratorium opportunities, state by state by state. We are consolidating our organizing materials into a comprehensive Legislative Toolkit, drawing on the experience of state and national organizers around the country.
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.
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