EJUSA’s vision is a world where violence is rare and every community is safe and healthy. That means that we have a criminal legal system that doesn’t cause more harm. A full scale transformation of the criminal legal system and all the systems that connect to it is work that will take generations. We need…
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The past two decades have brought a steady, state-by-state dismantling of the death penalty, and 2021 proved no different. We saw the first former Confederate state repeal the death penalty when Virgina Governor George Northam signed the state’s new law into the books. That stroke…
EJUSA launched the John J. Gibbons Fund in 2016 to honor the life and legacy of Judge John J. Gibbons, former Chief Judge of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Gibbons was a tireless advocate who used his position to protect and expand civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in our nation….
We’re less than a quarter into 2018, and the movement to end the death penalty has already made major strides in state capitols around the country. In Utah, a Republican-sponsored repeal bill passed out of a House committee for the first time ever. Two years ago, Utah came close to ending the death penalty but…
Published with the permission of The Star-Ledger, where it first appeared. It’s hard to imagine today that two Republicans and two Democrats would join together to pass historic legislation on any issue, no less an issue that was seen by some as “controversial.” But ten years ago this week, that’s exactly what we did. And…
“Recommended this week” features highlights from the past week in news about the death penalty, crime survivors, and trauma-informed responses to crime. Better by half, The Marshall Project An interesting story from The Marshall Project about New York City: “New York City’s example shows that when the community and government work together, it is possible to have both…
Utah Senators approved legislation to repeal the death penalty last night by a vote of 20-9! The Republican sponsor of the bill, Senator Steve Urquhart, used to support the death penalty. Just last year, he joined most of his Republican colleagues (only 5 of the 29 Senators in Utah are Democrats) in a vote to bring…