It’s been a long time since the death penalty has grabbed so much public attention. Where to begin? Maybe where you least expect it.
Ending the death penalty nationwide: “You can feel the momentum…”
Conservatives have become a force in the growing movement to repeal the death penalty. Leading off, there’s a good chance that New Hampshire could become the 21st state without the death penalty. A bipartisan effort led to huge victories in the state’s House and Senate, for which there were Republican and Democrat sponsors. Based on those votes, there is enough cushion to clear an expected veto from the governor. We are on the edge of our seats waiting to see what comes next.
Red state Wyoming was poised to beat New Hampshire to the finish line, and came close. The bill went further than any previous effort. While it ultimately couldn’t clear the Senate, it energized repeal supporters. In addition to New Hampshire and Wyoming, eight other Republican-sponsored bills emerged in statehouses across the nation, including Montana and Louisiana.
“You can feel the momentum surging across the country,” said Sarah Craft, the director of EJUSA’s death penalty program. “Public support for the death penalty continues to sink, and it’s incredibly encouraging to see lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hear their constituents and act on their wishes.”
Adding to that momentum was the historic action taken by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. On March 13, he put a halt to all executions (and dismantled the execution chamber) in the state with the nation’s largest death row: 737 men and women. A poll released soon after suggested that he was representing the people’s wishes, with only 31 percent in favor of the death penalty.
EJUSA is honored to provide support to local partner organizations in these and other states around the country, and to help fuel momentum nationwide through our national organizing and communications. We can’t wait to see where the momentum comes from next.
New Jersey: Community-based solutions to violence
We are also excited to be working on a violence-prevention bill introduced in New Jersey earlier this year. Working with community-based violence interrupters in Newark, Jersey City, Trenton, and Camden, as well the Giffords Law Center, a national ally, we are focused on one bill that’s part of a package. If passed in its original form, this bill will greatly increase funding for community-based organizations that have a proven track record with their violence-intervention programs.
An ongoing success story is the Newark Community Street Team. They’re part of a city-wide effort that has produced a 30 percent drop in shootings in the city. There is incredible opportunity to expand that impact and invest in cities across New Jersey working to increase safety and heal from violence.
“These communities have experienced high levels of trauma, been affected by mass incarceration, and now it’s time to take a public health approach to how we’re reducing gun violence,” said Will Simpson, senior strategist at EJUSA.
We will keep you updated on this legislation and all prospective and enacted laws that advance our vision where violence is rare and justice leads to safety, healing, and productive accountability.
EJUSA in the Media
ICYMI: Care, Dignity, and Respect: A Survivor’s Perspective, EJUSA
Our justice system runs on a false narrative that says arrest and punishment deliver healing and justice for survivors of violence and crime. But this narrative ignores the true needs of survivors. EJUSA sat down with Lisa Good, survivor and founder of Urban Grief, to ask what survivors really need in the wake of violence.
“Safety is not only the absence of crime and violence”, The State of New Jersey
The state of New Jersey is beginning to understand gun violence as a public health issue, with traumatic impacts on young people and entire communities that often go ignored. In this video produced by New Jersey officials, EJUSA Senior Strategist Will Simpson joins our community partners to discuss how this new approach has lead to double-digit reductions in violence.
From Trauma to Trust: New Approaches to Police Accountability, Youth Today
EJUSA’s Trauma to Trust program works with communities to create trauma-informed interactions between police and community members. Centering trauma can change more than policing — it has the opportunity to transform the justice system altogether. EJUSA Executive Director Shari Silberstein shares her perspective on what it means to move “beyond the punishment paradigm.”
‘A broken system’: the conservatives against the death penalty, The Guardian
Conservatives have been getting a lot of attention for their support of repealing the death penalty in recent years. Hannah Cox, national manager of EJUSA’s Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, spoke with The Guardian last month about common-sense reasons why more conservatives are leaning toward repeal.
