Has your group passed a resolution? 

MORATORIUM RESOURCES: National Tally of Moratorium Endorsers News and Information: * Newsletters * How Racism Riddles the US Death Penalty Organizing Packet: * Introduction * Sample Resolutions * Sample Press Release * Step by Step: How to Get a Resolution Passed * Next Steps for Action * City Council Guide * Q & A: Role Playing with the Media * Death Penalty Resources and Links State by State: find out how to get involved in your state.

Questions and answers about the Moratorium Now! campaign

What is Moratorium Now!?:

Equal Justice USA kicked off the Moratorium Now! campaign in August 1997, shortly after the American Bar Association passed a resolution calling for moratorium on all U.S. executions. The campaign seeks to build momentum for a national moratorium by mobilizing local groups to adopt their own resolutions and to recruit others in their area to join the call.

Why should my group pass a resolution?

Each proposed resolution offers a chance for dialog about the death penalty's systemic flaws, while every resolution that actually passes sends a strong message to state and national officials and provides an opportunity for media attention. Change does not occur in a vaccuum. Each resolution is another building block in the political foundation needed for a moratorium to be legally enacted. Each group represents people who elect officials at the local, state and national level. When ratified resolutions reach those elected leaders, we exert grassroots pressure to put a halt to executions.

Equal Justice USA keeps a National Tally of groups that support moratorium. As the moratorium movement has grown, we've seen public opinion on the death penalty shift dramatically! A majority of Americans now support moratorium, and support for the death penalty overall is the lowest it's been in years. The bigger our National Tally, the stronger our appeal!

What kinds of groups can pass resolutions?

Anyone! Our list includes justice and peace groups, churches, synagogues, and other religious communities, city and county councils, student groups, ACLU and Amnesty chapters, labor unions, professional associations, State Bar associations, businesses, political parties, newspapers and magazines, arts collectives, food co-ops, housing developments, and more!

My group has already passed a resolution! What else can I do?

Our favorite question here at Equal Justice USA! The first step is to build a large grassroots base of support. Use the resolution campaign as a tool around which to approach and recruit other groups in your area.

• Send blank resolutions out to constituents or print them in your newsletter
• Send an email to listservs you participate in
• Visit other groups to talk about the death penalty and ask them to pass their moratorium resolution.
• Set goals--how many resolutions do you want to collect in the next month? The next year? Collecting resolutions gives interested folks a concrete project to work on and a clear vehicle for reaching out to those not yet on your side.
• Approach your city council and try to get a resolution passed there.
• Use the resolution campaign to target your State Legislature to pass a moratorium bill. For example, if you want certain members of the State legislature to support the bill, ask important churches or the city council in their district to pass a resolution. Then send it on! For more details about getting resolutions passed, see the Organizing Packet.

What are the overall goals of Moratorium Now!?

• To bring about a national moratorium on executions, beginning state by state and gaining nationwide momentum.
• To deepen public understanding about how the death penalty is applied and violates human rights.

What has Moratorium Now! accomplished so far?

• Recruited thousands of endorsing organizations (including over 150 city councils) to call for a moratorium and published the National Tally.
• Pioneered the grassroots organizing strategy that has passed legislation in New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina.
• Won a moratorium on execu-tions in Maryland in 2002 and in New Jersey in 2006.
• Blocked reinstatement of New York’s death penalty in 2005.
• Published a signature ad in the New York Times urging a moratorium.
• Served as a national clearinghouse for moratorium information and news. Published and distributed a quarterly newsletter, timely action alerts, and a moratorium website.
• Garnered coverage in mainstream media about the movement for a moratorium. Stories about moratorium have run in the Washington Post, USA Today, and other national papers. Shows like Nightline and Oprah have run features examining particular aspects of the death penalty--demonstrating a shift in public opinion in thinking about the death penalty.
• Opened the nation’s first moratorium organizing field office in 2001 with current field offices in the Midwest and Southeast.
• Produced and distributed 5,000 moratorium organizing packets with educational materials and other tools for activists to use in their communities. Trained organizers and local groups in 16 states.
• Published two educational brochures as part of our Equal Justice Under Law? series: How Racism Riddles the U.S. Death Penalty and Innocent: How Wrongful Convictions Riddle the U.S. Death Penalty.

Convinced? Great! Then pass a resolution! Take up the campaign! Don't forget to check out our organizing packet, or look at the legislative update to see if your state is considering moratorium legislation right now.