Equal Justice Initiative

A new study led by the Brennan Center for Justice has documented how the enormous rise in judicial campaign spending over the last decade threatens the impartiality of our nation’s courts and undermines public confidence in the justice system.

The State of Alabama executed Jeff Land today despite compelling evidence of his transformation into remorseful man who became a peacemaker and, according to prison guards, saved lives by helping to prevent violence and conflicts on death row.

On July 30, 2010, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Mark Brown’s conviction and death sentence, ruling that the trial judge illegally instructed the jury that it could find Mr. Brown guilty of capital murder even if he did not intend to kill the victims.

EJI attorneys recently argued that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals should order a new trial for death row prisoner Mark Brown because the judge illegally instructed the jury that it could find Mr. Brown guilty of capital murder even if he did not intend to kill the victims.

The Alabama Supreme Court recently granted EJI's request for review of Esau Jackson's capital murder conviction and death sentence. The case raises serious questions about whether Mr. Jackson was wrongfully convicted because the State presented improper evidence and argument.

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens told a judicial conference audience that DNA testing has revealed that the risk of wrongfully convicting and sentencing an innocent person is increased in death-penalty cases.

On June 29, 2010, the United States Supreme Court reversed Georgia death row inmate Demarcus Sears’s case because his trial attorney failed to thoroughly investigate mitigating evidence and did not present compelling evidence that could have resulted in a sentence other than death. The Court emphasized that a trial lawyer can fall short of his constitutional obligation to investigate and present mitigating evidence even if he puts on some evidence about the defendant at the penalty phase.

On June 14, 2010, the United States Supreme Court held that a federal appeal filed after a deadline nonetheless can be reviewed on the merits if the late filing was caused by extraordinary circumstances outside a prisoner’s control. The Court ruled that Florida death row prisoner Albert Holland must be given the chance to show that his lawyer’s negligent conduct caused him to miss the deadline for filing a challenge his death sentence.

Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Alabama death row inmate Billy Joe Magwood's challenge to the constitutionality of his death sentence must be heard.

Update: Civil rights leaders, community organizations, and policymakers are responding to EJI's report calling for enforcement of anti-discrimination law in jury selection.

Nearly 135 years after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to eliminate racial discrimination in jury selection, people of color continue to be excluded from jury service because of their race, especially in serious criminal trials and death penalty cases. EJI on June 1, 2010, released a new report, “Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection: A Continuing Legacy,” which is the most comprehensive study of racial bias in jury selection since the United States Supreme Court tried to limit the practice in Batson v. Kentucky in 1986.

EJI staff with honoree Diane Jones, second from left.

On March 23, 2010, EJI honored George Kendall, Director of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey's Public Service Initiative, and Thomas Sager, general counsel of the DuPont Company and DuPont's legal department, with its Equal Justice Award. The second annual award event celebrated the triumph of Diane Jones, the first woman in Alabama to be released from Tutwiler Prison after being sentenced to life in prison without parole.

On December 4, 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the case of Jason Sharp, who was sentenced to death following a trial tainted by the State's discrimination against African Americans during jury selection.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan yesterday granted a new trial to EJI client T.J. Tremble, who was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for murder when he was just 14 years old.

Today in Kansas City, Missouri, the NAACP awarded EJI Director Bryan Stevenson the William Robert Ming Award for Advocacy at the opening plenary session of its 101st National Convention. The award is one of the NAACP’s highest honors for professionals in the legal field and was presented to Mr. Stevenson for the work of the Equal Justice Initiative, which this year has issued a major report documenting illegal racial discrimination in jury selection, led a successful effort in the United States Supreme Court to abolish life imprisonment without parole sentences imposed on juveniles, provided critical legal assistance to condemned prisoners on death row and prisoners wrongly convicted or illegally sentenced, and aided many others facing unfair and unjust treatment in the criminal justice system.

EJI celebrated Joe Garlock's graduation this month from our Post-Release Education and Preparation (PREP) program. Launched in 2008, PREP provides a wide range of assistance to people released from incarceration, including a full-scale residential re-entry program.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan yesterday granted a new trial to EJI client T.J. Tremble, who was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for murder when he was just 14 years old.

Update: EJI lawyers argued the case of Demarious Banyard in the Mississippi Supreme Court on Monday, June 14, 2010. Demarious has been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in Mississippi for an offense when he was just 13 years old. EJI is continuing to challenge death-in-prison sentences imposed on children in cases across the country.

Following the United States Supreme Court's ruling on May 17 banning life imprisonment without parole sentences for children convicted of non-homicides, editorials and op-eds supporting the ban have appeared in newspapers across the United States.

James Fisher

After 27 years on Oklahoma's death row and more than a decade of expert assistance from EJI, James Fisher was released this week and will be entering EJI's Post-Release Education and Preparation (PREP) program.

EJI celebrated Joe Garlock's graduation this month from our Post-Release Education and Preparation (PREP) program. Launched in 2008, PREP provides a wide range of assistance to people released from incarceration, including a full-scale residential re-entry program.

On April 30, 2010, Alabama Governor Bob Riley signed a new law that limits incarceration in Alabama's overcrowded prisons for people on probation who commit no new offense but technically violate the terms of their probation. The new law gives judges more non-incarceration options for addressing technical probation violations.

Today in Kansas City, Missouri, the NAACP awarded EJI Director Bryan Stevenson the William Robert Ming Award for Advocacy at the opening plenary session of its 101st National Convention. The award is one of the NAACP’s highest honors for professionals in the legal field and was presented to Mr. Stevenson for the work of the Equal Justice Initiative, which this year has issued a major report documenting illegal racial discrimination in jury selection, led a successful effort in the United States Supreme Court to abolish life imprisonment without parole sentences imposed on juveniles, provided critical legal assistance to condemned prisoners on death row and prisoners wrongly convicted or illegally sentenced, and aided many others facing unfair and unjust treatment in the criminal justice system.

Update: Civil rights leaders, community organizations, and policymakers are responding to EJI's report calling for enforcement of anti-discrimination law in jury selection.

Nearly 135 years after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to eliminate racial discrimination in jury selection, people of color continue to be excluded from jury service because of their race, especially in serious criminal trials and death penalty cases. EJI on June 1, 2010, released a new report, “Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection: A Continuing Legacy,” which is the most comprehensive study of racial bias in jury selection since the United States Supreme Court tried to limit the practice in Batson v. Kentucky in 1986.

Update: Civil rights leaders, community organizations, and policymakers are responding to EJI's report calling for enforcement of anti-discrimination law in jury selection.

Nearly 135 years after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to eliminate racial discrimination in jury selection, people of color continue to be excluded from jury service because of their race, especially in serious criminal trials and death penalty cases. EJI on June 1, 2010, released a new report, “Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection: A Continuing Legacy,” which is the most comprehensive study of racial bias in jury selection since the United States Supreme Court tried to limit the practice in Batson v. Kentucky in 1986.

EJI director Bryan Stevenson discussed EJI's new study on illegal racial discrimination i jury selection on NPR's All Things Considered today. Mr. Stevenson told NPR's Guy Raz that African Americans have been excluded from juries throughout the South "because they're too old at 43, because they're too young at 28, while other white jurors much older are being accepted, and other white jurors much younger are being accepted. ... We've had jurors excluded because they were in an interracial marriage or had a biracial son." Mr.

Bryan Stevenson discussed the problem of continuing racial bias in jury selection and the solutions proposed in EJI's new report with Roland Martin on today's episode of The Tom Joyner Morning Show.

Audio: The Tom Joyner Morning Show

On September 4, 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the conviction and sentence imposed on Marsha Colby, who was convicted of capital murder after giving birth to what doctors believe was a stillborn baby.

On October 31, 2008, Equal Justice Initiative attorneys filed a brief in the Alabama Supreme Court on behalf of Alabama death row inmate Michael Carruth, in which it argued that Mr. Carruth is entitled to an out-of-time appeal because the lawyer appointed to represent him on the appeal of his conviction failed to file a mandatory petition for review in the Alabama Supreme Court.

On September 4, 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the conviction and sentence imposed on Marsha Colby, who was convicted of capital murder after giving birth to what doctors believe was a stillborn baby.

The United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument next week in Caperton v. Massey about whether West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin violated the Constitution when he cast the deciding vote in favor of his campaign contributors, who spent $3 million to get him elected to the appellate court.

A study released last week by the Department of Justice reveals that Alabama prisons and jails have some of the highest rates of sexual assault in the nation.

A new study led by the Brennan Center for Justice has documented how the enormous rise in judicial campaign spending over the last decade threatens the impartiality of our nation’s courts and undermines public confidence in the justice system.

State officials are investigating the death of a 24-year-old prison inmate who was beaten to death by guards at Ventress Correctional Facility in Clayton, Alabama, on August 4, 2010. Rocrast Mack was serving a 20-year sentence for a non-violent drug offense at the time of his death.

A new study led by the Brennan Center for Justice has documented how the enormous rise in judicial campaign spending over the last decade threatens the impartiality of our nation’s courts and undermines public confidence in the justice system.

From The Economist

Mass incarceration in the United States continues at record high levels despite outsized costs. According to recent data reported in The Economist, the United States has the world's highest incarceration rate, locking up five times more people per capita than Britain, nine times more than Germany, and 12 times more than Japan.

From The Economist

Mass incarceration in the United States continues at record high levels despite outsized costs. According to recent data reported in The Economist, the United States has the world's highest incarceration rate, locking up five times more people per capita than Britain, nine times more than Germany, and 12 times more than Japan.

On April 30, 2010, Alabama Governor Bob Riley signed a new law that limits incarceration in Alabama's overcrowded prisons for people on probation who commit no new offense but technically violate the terms of their probation. The new law gives judges more non-incarceration options for addressing technical probation violations.

A new study led by the Brennan Center for Justice has documented how the enormous rise in judicial campaign spending over the last decade threatens the impartiality of our nation’s courts and undermines public confidence in the justice system.

Today in Kansas City, Missouri, the NAACP awarded EJI Director Bryan Stevenson the William Robert Ming Award for Advocacy at the opening plenary session of its 101st National Convention. The award is one of the NAACP’s highest honors for professionals in the legal field and was presented to Mr. Stevenson for the work of the Equal Justice Initiative, which this year has issued a major report documenting illegal racial discrimination in jury selection, led a successful effort in the United States Supreme Court to abolish life imprisonment without parole sentences imposed on juveniles, provided critical legal assistance to condemned prisoners on death row and prisoners wrongly convicted or illegally sentenced, and aided many others facing unfair and unjust treatment in the criminal justice system.

The Alabama Supreme Court recently decided to review the cases of three inmates on death row: Brandon Washington, Brent Martin, and Jimmy Killingsworth. In each case, questions have been raised about the fairness of the capital trial and the propriety of the death sentence.