All of us have suffered the tragedy of losing a loved one to murder. We intimately understand the deep pain caused by such loss and the challenges that families face in rebuilding their lives. Our criminal justice system must be responsive to the needs of murder victims’ families. Sadly, Duval County’s use of the death…
More than 20 Duval County, Florida, religious leaders participated in an EJUSA press conference in front of the County Courthouse today. They gathered in reaction to a report from the Fair Punishment Project branding Duval County an “outlier” in its overuse of the death penalty. Clergy released a letter to the State Attorney’s Office signed…
“Recommended this week” features highlights from the past week in news about the death penalty, crime survivors, and trauma-informed responses to crime. Are Evangelicals Ditching the Death Penalty?, The Marshall Project Another sign of how the U.S. is changing on the death penalty: Evangelical Christians are turning against it. Heather Beaudoin, our Director of Evangelical Outreach quoted in…
A study of the cost of Nebraska’s death penalty concluded that the state could save $14.6 million per year if Nebraskans vote to end the death penalty in November. Dr. Ernie Goss, professor of economics at Creighton University, said he was surprised when his study revealed how expensive the death penalty is compared to its alternatives.”If…
“Recommended this week” features highlights from the past week in news about the death penalty, crime survivors, and trauma-informed responses to crime. Evangelical Leaders Call for Halt to Texas Execution Demand New Sentencing Hearing for Jeff Wood, The Gospel Herald Evangelical Leaders Call for Halt to Texas Execution, Evangelicals for Social Action Evangelicals urge halt to Texas execution, Baptist News Global…
Texas is scheduled to execute Jeff Wood on August 24, 2016, even though he never killed anyone, had no previous criminal history, and suffers from borderline intellectual functioning and mental illness. Although Wood was involved in a robbery, he didn’t plan to kill anyone and wasn’t even inside the gas station when the victim, Kris…
Race has played a disturbing role in the death penalty’s application throughout its long history in the United States. During slavery, this discrimination was explicitly written in many states’ laws. Blacks and slaves faced the death penalty in cases where the same crime committed by a white person would not even be eligible for death….
Almost 50 Evangelical leaders from Texas and around the country called upon state officials to stop the execution of Jeff Wood. In a letter released Monday, the religious leaders urged Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Paroles and Pardons to grant Wood a new sentencing hearing, saying he “never should have been sentenced…
Yesterday, Delaware’s death penalty was ruled unconstitutional! “Delaware’s death penalty is gone,” said EJUSA’s Executive Director Shari Silberstein. “It’s only a matter of time before the whole house of cards that is the death penalty in the United States comes crashing down.” Delaware joins the growing number of states that have abandoned the death penalty…
“Recommended this week” features highlights from the past week in news about the death penalty, crime survivors, and trauma-informed responses to crime. Retain a Just Nebraska – Kirk Bloodsworth, Innocence The campaign to keep the death penalty out of Nebraska released its first TV spot this month, featuring the first man to be exonerated from death row…