Melissa Lucio is likely innocent, but Texas plans to execute her on April 27 anyway. There’s a real risk that Texas might execute an innocent person next month. Melissa Lucio was tried, convicted, and, in 2008, sentenced to death for a crime that likely never happened. Now, a broad coalition of organizations and experts are…
Today is a day for reflection. And I want to share the two thoughts foremost on my mind. The first is gratitude for the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his impact — while he was alive but also the enduring influence he has on our world, and the example he…
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…
In his own words, Clemente Aguirre describes how he spent almost 15 years on death row in Florida for a crime he didn’t commit. I know the torture of fighting against a government that wanted to kill me. The state saw me as just a disposable, undocumented immigrant, and I lost almost 15 years of…
The world lost a giant yesterday. Bill Pelke, founder of Journey of Hope…from Violence to Forgiveness, passed away in his home in Alaska after suffering a heart attack. Bill is the heart behind the anti-death penalty’s powerful mantra “love and compassion for all of humanity.” He came to this vision — and spread the message…
Reimagining Justice This Month highlights stories about effective responses to violence – responses that disrupt cycles of violence, heal trauma, and address structural racism. Seeking Dignity-Based Justice, Institute for Family StudiesSo much of the violence in our society has its root in childhood trauma, and too often our responses to that violence only perpetuate the same…
“Lindy Lou, Juror Number 2” is a documentary about a conservative Christian grandmother from Mississippi who helped sentence a man to death. Two decades later, an overwhelming sense of regret compels her to track down her fellow jurors. This film raises important questions about the death penalty and the impact on jurors of making high-stakes sentencing…
Every time I turn on the news I see another mass shooting. Another police shooting. I see people of color and poor people railroaded into prisons. And I see survivors struggling in silence – neglected, forgotten. It’s devastating. We need real solutions that address violence head on. Violence by the justice system. Community violence. All…
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…
This piece first appeared at usnews.com on August 23, 2017. Tuesday night, Missouri almost executed a man who is likely innocent. Marcellus Williams came within mere hours of execution, and the process that put him there is a scathing indictment of our justice system. Bloody footprints at the scene did not match Williams’ shoe size. The…