Maryland’s Governor, Martin O’Malley, today signed the legislation to repeal Maryland’s death penalty. The new law makes Maryland the sixth state in six years to end the death penalty. Maryland represents the first time a Governor put the full weight of his office behind a campaign to end the death penalty. Governor O’Malley sponsored the…
Read MoreIllinois is using the savings from repealing the death penalty to improve support for families of homicide victims. Funds for this initiative came from the Death Penalty Abolition Fund, which was established as a result of Illinois’ repeal of the death penalty in 2011. The goal was to make sure that repeal was more than…
Read MoreEJUSA is pleased to support Mothers in Charge in hosting a national conference on violence prevention! The Cost of Violence: National Conference on Violence Prevention and Behavioral Health May 6-7, 2013 Philadelphia, PA Register EJUSA is a proud sponsor of two conference sessions – a panel about the death penalty and a leadership training for…
Read MoreOne hundred and six years ago today Kansas became one of the first states to pass legislation ending the death penalty. Kansas’ death penalty was reinstated a few times since 1907, most recently in 1994. But it was never embraced. In 2010 the State Senate voted 20-20 on repealing the death penalty, with 12 Republicans…
Read MoreThe capital conviction of Jerry Hartfield, an illiterate man with an IQ of 51, was overturned in 1983. At that time, the appeals court ordered a new trial – but that trial never happened. The case was at a virtual standstill until 2006, when another prisoner helped him file a handwritten motion asking that Hartfield…
Read MoreConservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty renewed their call for repeal of the Montana’s death penalty following a recent ruling declaring the state’s execution method unconstitutional. “Conservatives dislike waste and inefficiency. That is why we should cast a critical eye when the State is involved with the business of executing people,” said Roy Brown, former…
Read MoreToday the PA Coalition Against Rape joined numerous groups against sexual violence, hundreds of child advocates, faith leaders, and former jurors in calling on Pennsylvania’s governor to stop the execution of Terrance “Terry” Williams. Pennsylvania is scheduled to execute Williams on October 3rd for killing two men, Amos Norwood and Herbert Hamilton. What the jury…
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You might notice some differences in this issue of our newsletter. For starters, the name. Not to mention our logo, tagline, and overall look. The fact is, EJUSA has been changing and growing for a long time. Now, our outside is catching up to our insides. Where we were: Moratorium Now! The 1980s and ‘90s…
Read MoreA new study finds that 3 percent of executions in the United States were “botched.” What the study doesn’t tell you is the ripple affects of harm these botched executions can take. Every execution requires a team of corrections officers who watch the inmate in his or her final days, who strap the inmate to…
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In 2006, the Chicago Tribune published a three-part investigative report that revealed the execution of Carlos DeLuna in Texas in 1989 may have been a case of mistaken identity. Today The Columbia Human Rights Law Review published The Wrong Carlos – a book-length study of the case that chronicles in shocking detail the massive series…
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