Maryland Campaign Accomplishments

  • developed and mailed an action alert to 25,000 Marylanders.
  • published an ad in a Sunday edition of The Sun in Baltimore with a readership of nearly a half million people; over 400 Marylanders signed the ad’s call for a moratorium, including three U.S. Congressional Representatives, the current and former Mayors of Baltimore, two county executives, filmmaker John Waters, and other prominent residents.
  • presented a clear and informed message to the media, the legislature, and the public that helped shape the moratorium debate.
  • contacted approximately 1,000 Quixote Center constituents in Maryland by phone, and coordinated with Amnesty International’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, which mobilized its state phone tree.
  • coordinated an e-mail group of coalition members and e-mailed up-to-date action alerts to hundreds of groups and individuals around the state.

 

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.