Five years ago, we set out to build a movement to halt executions, resolution by resolution, church by church, and school by school.
We dreamed that our strategy would shatter the political inertia of the anti-death penalty struggle and build the people’s movement that is now sweeping the nation. Capturing the imagination of local and state organizers, we planted seeds of hope that helped launch the country’s first state moratorium campaigns in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey, and even Texas.
Within three years, Illinois had imposed a moratorium. In 2001, 19 states considered moratorium bills. And in 2002, we won the nation’s second victory in our home state of Maryland.
