During its 2001-02 term, the United States Supreme Court issued two landmark rulings: one barring the execution of the mentally retarded and another which requires such fundamental changes in how some states impose death sentences that it has led to special legislative sessions. Thus far this year, no death row appeal taken on by the…
Read MoreThe New Jersey legislature is poised to move moratorium legislation to victory early next year. The Equal Justice USA Northeast field office has been working side by side with our state partner, New Jerseyans for a Death Penalty Moratorium (NJDPM), throughout the year to help make the dream a reality. The groups upped the ante…
Read MoreAs Illinois Governor’s term ends, those on death row may find a ray of hope Illinois Governor George Ryan made history in January 2000 when he made Illinois the first state in the country to halt executions while questions of fairness were studied. The study commission the Governor established completed its report earlier this year,…
Read More“You know, they’d come back from war, it might be three months, it might be two years, it might be five years, all of a sudden they relive it again, and all that has to come out.” – Fred Allen, Witness to an Execution radio documentary Before police finally caught sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad,…
Read MoreA personal face on the death penalty’s deadly mistakes Pennsylvania is home to three exonerated former death row inmates with a powerful message to share. Thanks to Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty (PA Abolitionists), the message of those wrongly convicted was heard loud and clear across the state this fall. The “Voices of…
Read MoreEJUSA seeks donors to support the launching of a new Partnership dedicated to underwriting state capacity building activities. The Partnership provides participants (State by State Partners) with a means to closely monitor and support the development of local grassroots groups working for state legislative moratoriums. The objective of the State by State Partnership is twofold:…
Read MoreCovering campaigns in NJ, PA, MD, NY, and DE The Field Office’s second year started off strong with a multi-state tour of the Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing, which came through Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in April. To share ideas and get a jump-start planning the tour, Field Organizer Celeste Fitzgerald facilitated…
Read Morefrom Petra Wendeler of Amnesty International, Group 513, Mobile When it comes to the death penalty, Alabama has never produced the big headlines that Texas has. However, with the fastest growing death row population per capita in the United States, this might soon change. Alabama’s capital punishment system is one of the worst in the…
Read Morefrom Stephen Kobasa of the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty In May 2001, the Connecticut House of Representatives came within three votes of approving a death penalty moratorium. The legislature did pass a law that would prohibit the execution of the mentally retarded and established a commission to study the application of the…
Read Moreby Laura Moye of Georgia Moratorium Campaign (www.GeorgiaMoratorium.org) Late last year, a coalition of groups including Amnesty International, Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda launched the Georgia Moratorium Campaign. The campaign is Georgia’s first concerted legislative push for a moratorium, and resulted in the introduction of…
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