Equal Justice USA

We’ve already addressed how a sentencing reform frame cannot effectively take on violence. Therefore, we need a new frame in which to advocate, and a new solution for violence for which we advocate, with those impacted at the center of both.

EJUSA’s 30 years of experience with the justice system exposed us to the extensive trauma experienced across the system. Two decades of relationship building with stakeholders have led us to an important conclusion: trauma is everywhere and provides the best frame of analysis to understand the needs and challenges of those harmed, those who commit harm, and the professionals who work in the system. A trauma frame opens up space to center people’s authentic, lived experiences, especially for marginalized people whose trauma is often invisible. And because we also include historical trauma and community trauma in our analysis, the trauma frame is also particularly effective in creating space for dialogue around structural racism and other forms of oppression.

By asserting that trauma is at the root of what ails the justice system, we can present a clear agenda of what needs to change for true transformation to take place. The common thread of trauma among those both inside the system and those impacted by it presents a roadmap for solutions and a pathway to greater empathy and understanding.

Changing the conversation. We change narratives and shatter stalemates by using communications and organizing to amplify key voices, generate momentum, and highlight new frames for thinking about violence and justice. We think critically and strategically about the current and historical context behind ingrained thinking and use that understanding to create space for people to change their views.

National coordination and thought leadership. We engage with movement peers and influencers to promote trauma-informed approaches to violence, work together to develop national strategies, and ensure that the perspectives of local/grassroots movements and impacted communities are represented.

State/local grassroots campaigns. We work with local partners to build smart, strategic campaigns that think three steps ahead to get results and build local capacity (see grassroots capacity building, below). We have 30 years of experience bringing diverse stakeholders together to change policy around violence and translate bold vision into new realities. We skillfully integrate our strategic know-how with local knowledge and context, using our skills as path creators to combine big picture thinking and practical doing. We constantly learn and make adjustments in real time, and we are not afraid to dig in deep or engage for the long haul.

Grassroots capacity building. We use an accompaniment model that provides training, tools, movement building, strategy, coaching, and campaign support to help local leaders have national impact. Our model is tailored to groups’ unique gaps and opportunities, invests in groups for the long term, and prioritizes authentic relationships over transactional ones. Our success in working as a national group with state and local partners comes from our deep respect for them and our awareness that we cannot take their trust in us for granted.

Supporting leadership of those directly impacted. We are explicit about including impacted communities as key partners in our capacity building/accompaniment models, with a special focus on crime survivors in communities of color. We bring a power analysis to the ways that we work with impacted people, recognizing how dynamics such as race, class, and gender shape access to power. Our accompaniment work includes organizational capacity building to help impacted groups maximize their healing and violence reduction programs, as well as supporting individual leaders who want to bring their expertise and voices to a national stage.

Building bridges. We organize and foster dialogue between groups impacted by the justice system (crime survivors and criminal justice reformers, police and communities of color). We also work across the political spectrum building left/right and faith-based coalitions. We listen, build authentic relationships, and cut through polarization to find common ground.

EJUSA's program staff includes full-time campaign strategists, national organizers who are dedicated to particular communities (communities of color, conservatives, Evangelicals, and other national outreach), and capacity building specialists who work to help build local grassroots organizations. These staff members, who work around the country, are the lifeblood of what we do and how we do it. Their expertise includes assistance and training in strategic planning, organizing, outreach to key constituencies, media and message development, campaign coordination, custom development of materials, board and organizational development, and other technical assistance and capacity building as needed.

Supporting this program work is a manager of administration, an administrative assistant, and a development coordinator. Senior management consists of a director of finance and administration, a director of partnerships, a director of strategic communications, and a director of strategy growth. EJUSA's Executive Director, Shari Silberstein, who has been with the organization for 15 years, oversees the entire operation.

EJUSA also has a ten-member board of directors that brings a mix of experience in legal/public defense, criminal justice policy, fundraising, organizing, trauma support and victims' assistance, and organizational development. Our board provides programmatic support to the organization in addition to governance and fiduciary responsibilities.

In 2014, EJUSA was named a top ten semifinalist for the New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Award.

EJUSA has fought for justice and healing for thirty years, and we've had many successes. EJUSA

• Was the lead national partner on campaigns that ended the death penalty in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, New Hampshire, Washington, and Colorado.

• Secured funding for families of murder victims in two states.

• Launched the nation's first and only group for conservatives to challenge the death penalty's alignment with conservative values (Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty).

• Secured unprecedented support for death penalty repeal from the Evangelical community.

• Forged new partnerships for death penalty repeal and criminal justice reform with national and local groups representing communities of color.

• Co-planned a two-year dialog process that brought together criminal justice reformers and crime survivors to find common ground, and co-wrote a report, Bridging the Divide: A new paradigm for addressing safety, crime, and victimization.

• Through a collaborative project, provided technical assistance and capacity building to two-dozen non-traditional victim service providers in communities of color, to help them access federal victim services funding for the first time.

• Published a comprehensive 60-page toolkit to guide groups who want to apply for federal victim services funding fort he first time.

• Piloted a project in Newark, NJ that uses the analysis of structural racism and trauma in a series of joint trainings and visioning sessions for police officers and community members.

• Organized an event at the White House on trauma, race, and justice that brought together experts in violence and trauma, grassroots victims services, public health, and criminal justice to discuss moving beyond the focus on incarceration to prioritize public health approaches to safety, harm reduction, and trauma-informed care.

• Advocated successfully for state funding for community-based violence intervention programs in New Jersey and California.

• Helped secure a 5% shift of funds from the Newark Police Department to start an Office of Violence Prevention and Public Safety.

• Participated in dozens of national convenings and events, speaking engagements, and workshops to promote EJUSA's vision of a justice system that puts the needs of those most impacted by crime at the center of responses to violence.

Despite this progress, there is much work to be done. The last few years have seen an unprecedented level of attention to the need for criminal justice reform. This is excellent news. But much of the focus has been on sentencing reform for low-level, non-violent offenders. There is very little discussion on violence – neither how to reduce it nor how to meet the needs of people harmed by it.

This is not surprising. The criminal justice debate too often takes place in a single narrow corridor: whether and how much to punish people who break the law. Transformative change for communities impacted by crime and violence requires a broader vision. We must go beyond sentencing reform to develop effective responses to violence that meet the needs of people harmed by it and reduce it in the future. The time is right to achieve this change, and EJUSA is helping to lead the way.