Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear arguments in Buck v. Stephens, a death penalty case raising extraordinary issues of racial bias. Duane Buck is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s ruling that his case did not warrant re-consideration, despite his claim that his lawyer was constitutionally ineffective for knowingly…
Group’s landmark policy agenda addresses criminal justice for the first time The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 40 prominent Latino organizations, has called for repeal of the death penalty. Collectively, the NHLA leads advocacy behind pressing civil rights and policy issues impacting the 58-million Latinos living in the U.S. The NHLA Public…
A reflection for Mother’s Day As workers in the fight for racial justice and equity, our experiences and the issues we address as staff at EJUSA indelibly reflect within our daily lives. As team members, we talk explicitly about the challenges of race within criminal justice, social and economic equity, and the gamut of issues our…
Duane Buck was sentenced to death in Texas after his own lawyer called an “expert” who testified that Buck was more likely to be dangerous in the future because he is black. At this crucial moment, when our nation is addressing racial bias in the criminal justice system, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to…
This week is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The theme this year is Serving Victims. Building Trust. Restoring Hope., which highlights the need for early intervention and victims services that build trust with crime survivors, and creates hope that healing is possible. We’ve been working with crime survivors for over 10 years. And what we’ve…
Thank you so much for your letter last week to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. Thanks to people like you, we generated over 650 letters to stop an execution tainted by racial bias and a sleeping lawyer. Georgia refused to listen. Kenneth Fults was executed last night for the 1997 killing of Cathy…
Apply public health values to a broken criminal justice system Contact: Jon Crane Phone/Email 203-982-4575 jon@criticalpr.com Sunday April 10th will mark the start of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (April 10-16) and this year’s theme – Serving Victims, Building Trust, Restoring Hope – is intended to highlight the need for victims services that will promote…
Pennsylvania has opened its application process for organizations to apply for funds through the Federal Victims Of Crime Act (VOCA). If you are an organization in Pennsylvania that works with crime survivors or victims’ families, you may be eligible to apply through this RFP process. Most importantly, Pennsylvania has identified men and boys of color…
There is a growing interest in reimagining the relationship between the public health and the justice systems. Our coverage of the new report, “Stress on the Streets (SOS): Race, Policing, Health, and Increasing Trust, not Trauma,” last month highlighted innovative ways that public health and criminal justice reform organizations are collaborating to do just that….
Lawmakers in Delaware allowed a bill to repeal the death penalty to get a full debate on the House floor for the first time. The bill had been stuck in the House Judiciary Committee for the last several years. The growing coalition in Delaware is fired up at having broken through the logjam. Though the…