Equal Justice USA, A Project of the Quixote Center

Equal Justice USA is a grassroots project of the Quixote Center that mobilizes and educates ordinary citizens around issues of crime and punishment in the U.S. Our work brings into public focus the racial, economic and political biases that permeate our legal system. By transforming our culture of vengeance and violence, we build support for an alternative public policy that is both effective and humane.

NEW JERSEY ABOLISHES DEATH PENALTY!

On December 17th, 2007, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed into law a bill to repeal the death penalty. New Jersey is the first state in the country to legislatively abolish its death penalty since the Supreme Court allowed states to impose the sentence in 1976. "We have exposed the flaws in the death penalty and have shown how it harms us in practice," said Celeste Fitzgerald, Executive Director of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "We will move forward with a sentence that offers certainty for victims' families and is more just." Congratulations to our state partners in NJADP for a truly inspiring campaign!

Here's to many more victories!

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Check on the latest news, moratorium bill status, actions and local contacts in your state!

Recent News and Alerts:

Last March, a group of 51 Maryland police, prosecutors and correctional officials called on the General Assembly to repeal the death penalty, saying it is ineffective, wastes public safety resources and provides no additional security to police and prison employees. See the press release and the letter to the legislature.
New Jersey's Death Penalty Study Commission released its findings and recommended that the New Jersey legislature replace the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole. Read EJUSA's full press release.
On October 27th, 2006, St. Louis became the 150th municipality nationwide to pass a resolution in support of a moratorium on executions. The board's decision came less than two weeks after a federal judge rejected Missouri’s lethal injection protocols for the second time, placing all executions on hold. See EJUSA's press release.
Just 3 days after St. Louis became the 150th municipality to endorse a moratorium on executions, El Paso County's Commissioner's Court also passed a moratorium resolution after powerful testimony from death-row exoneree Juan Melendez and several murder victims' family members. Read the full story in the El Paso Times.
The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) passed a resolution in favor of a moratorium in March, noting that 62 of the 123 men exonerated from death row have been black. NBLSA also stated hat they take no official moral position on the death penalty, but rather are alarmed by the growing body of evidence of bias and errors in the system. See the full text of their resolution.

See Recent News Archives

Tally Update:

Shelby County, TN, St. Louis, MO and El Paso County, TX are the three most recent municipalities to pass resolutions supporting a moratorium on executions! That brings the Municipal Tally to 152! Congratulations to Tennesseeans Against State Executions, Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty and El Pasoans Against the Death Penalty.
Pass a resolution in your group or organization.
Cultivate Hometown Pride and Do Justice: Get your local government to pass a moratorium resolution.
Visit the Moratorium Tally to see the list of organizations that have passed such resolutions.

Equal Justice USA currently operates three exciting programs: Moratorium Now!, the GrassRoots Investigation Project, and the DC Books to Prisons Project.

	Moratorium Now!, our primary campaign, works state by state to mobilize grassroots support for an immediate halt to executions. The tide is turning in the death penalty debate!

	The GrassRoots Investigation Project has just released The Capital Defense Handbook for Defendants and Their Families to give people information they need about the justice system, when they need it. Also, GRIP's groundbreaking report Reasonable Doubts: Is the U.S. Executing Innocent People?.

	The DC Books to Prisons Project provides a critical link between citizens who are incarcerated and those outside prison walls by sending donated reading material to prisoners and educating the public about issues surrounding prisoner education and literacy.

Equal Justice USA
A project of the Quixote Center
P.O. Box 5206, Hyattsvillle, MD 20782
tel: 301-699-0042 fax: 301-864-2182
ejusa@quixote.org