The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 by lawyer Bryan Stevenson to provide aid to incarcerated people. Much of the cases they take on involve people who were wrongly convicted of crimes and/or denied their Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. They have had much success in pursuit of their goal, such as preventing more than 125 people from receiving the death penalty as of 2019 (Stevenson). Because of this, along with other accomplishments, such as legislation they passed, Supreme Court decisions made, releasing wrongly accused people from death row, and working to end poverty, the Equal Justice Initiative is one of the best civil rights organizations in the United States.
The EJI has many achievements in protecting civil rights through the legal system. An example of this is the “Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018,” which made lynching a hate crime (Carrigan and Webb 71). In a journal article written by William Carrigan and Clive Webb from Cambridge University, “EJI has worked very hard to bring public attention to the history of lynching and to how the culture that nourished lynching lingers in the United States.” (71) To increase awareness about the history and significance of lynching the EJI has even opened a museum and memorial called the Legacy Museum.
Similarly, the organization has influenced five Supreme Court decisions, creating large strides in Criminal Justice Reform (“Criminal Justice Reform”). One of those decisions focused on releasing wrongly accused death row prisoners, Madison v. Alabama. As referenced by the EJI website, “Mr. Stevenson has argued and won multiple cases at the United States Supreme Court, including a 2019 ruling protecting condemned prisoners who suffer from dementia” (Stevenson). In this case, Madison v. Alabama, Stevenson debated whether the physician who examined the defendant, Madison, was competent enough to give his medical opinion concerning Madison’s capital punishment. He proved that the physician was unreliable because of an assessment he took and that Madison’s dementia, along with his mental state proved a basis for nullification (Stevenson).
Another incentive of the EJI is working to end poverty. This is a critical issue in the United States and the Equal Justice Initiative works to reduce incarceration rates by lowering the poverty line. It has been proven, “incarceration rates increased rapidly by 342 percent” when the poverty line was low (“The Relationship between Poverty & Mass Incarceration”).
This is supported by the “about” page on the EJI website, “We believe that widespread poverty is a huge barrier to reducing incarceration, improving public safety, and creating healthy and just opportunities for all people.” (“Anti-Poverty”). Which further proves their efforts to reduce mass incarceration.
Another organization similar to the Equal Justice Initiative is the NAACP, also known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Some may argue that the NAACP is a superior organization to the Equal Justice Initiative. This may be because they have existed as an organization longer, have more experience, and have been involved in more Supreme Court cases. The NAACP was assembled in 1909 and related to the EJI, they have been established eighty years longer. Some examples of Supreme Court cases with NAACP involvement include Smith v. Allwright, NAACP v. Button, Furman v. Georgia, Shelley v. Kraemer, and the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Ultimately, the Equal Justice Initiative remains one of the best non-profit organizations in the United States because of its accomplishments in civil rights. They have made tremendous strides with their work and have passed legislation, influenced Supreme Court decisions, released over 125 wrongfully accused on death row, and continued to work to end poverty.
Works Cited
“Anti-Poverty.” Equal Justice Initiative, https://eji.org/anti-poverty/. Accessed 25 November 2022.
“Criminal Justice Reform.” Equal Justice Initiative, https://eji.org/criminal-justice-reform/. Accessed 5 December 2022.
“Madison v. Alabama.” Equal Justice Initiative, https://eji.org/cases/madison-v-alabama/. Accessed 25 November 2022.
“Madison v. Alabama (02/27/2019).” Supreme Court, 27 February 2019, https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-7505_2d9g.pdf. Accessed 5 December 2022.
Stevenson, Bryan. “About EJI.” Equal Justice Initiative, https://eji.org/about/. Accessed 5 December 2022.
Stevenson, Bryan. “Bryan Stevenson.” Equal Justice Initiative, https://eji.org/bryan-stevenson/. Accessed 25 November 2022.
Carrigan, William D, and Clive Webb. “Introduction.” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, vol. 20, no. 1, 2021, pp. 66–73., https://doi.org/10.1017/S153778142000047X
Mauro, Tony. Illustrated Great Decisions of the Supreme Court, CQ Press, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monroeccc/detail.action?docID=419573.
“The Relationship between Poverty & Mass Incarceration.” Mass Legal Services, https://www.masslegalservices.org/system/files/library/The_Relationship_between_Poverty_and_Mass_Incarceration.pdf. Accessed 6 December 2022.
