Since 2007, eleven states across the nation have repealed the death penalty. Equal Justice USA has played a critical role in eight of those victories, with a smaller role in the remaining three.

Our success flows from an understanding of what our role is. We challenge the death penalty state by state, connecting with a variety of grassroots activists who need overall support, technical assistance, more strategic direction, and better access to the network of organizations working to end the death penalty in the U.S. At any moment we are active in multiple states, bringing whatever tools and resources we can to make the boots on the ground stronger and more effective.

We have engaged with countless survivors across more than two decades, including family members of murder victims and of those who have been executed. They have taught us so much about the healing that is required in the wake of violence as well as all the ways race influences how the death penalty operates. Because of their courage and honesty, we have been able to change the way that people think and talk about capital punishment through values that are common to us all.

Those same values have the power to cut across partisan lines. Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, launched in 2013, has amassed tens of thousands of conservative followers—once thought to be firmly pro-death penalty—thanks to a media campaign that yields hundreds of placements every year. Using all available platforms, CCATDP demonstrates how the many failings of the capital punishment system offend conservative principles.

The EJUSA Evangelical Network is having a similarly outsized impact. Dozens of the nation’s most influential spiritual leaders use the bedrock of their faith to advocate not just against the death penalty but all instances of violence and harm.