City Council Guide

Over 150 local governments across the country have passed moratorium resolutions! Your town, city, county, town, village, borough, etc, can be the next addition to the ever-growing tally of municipalities calling for a halt on executions! (Click here for the current list of local governments.)

Bringing a resolution before your local government is probably easier than you think and anyone can do it. Steve Dear of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty was surprised at how quickly resolutions were debated and adopted by the first six cities and one county in North Carolina. "It has actually proven easier to get local governments to consider resolutions than to get some churches," Dear noted. Even Charlotte's council, whose mayor vetoed the resolution, worked quickly to officially support a moratorium as an 8-3 vote overruled the veto the next week.

Public officials want to go on record as supporting basic fairness in our legal system. Although capital punishment might not directly affect every city, it is still quite important for a municipal council to voice pressing concerns about the actions of other levels of government and legislature. Here are some general steps you can take to give yours the opportunity to do just that:

Steps for passing a city council resolution

Get started. Learn about your council and determine the political realities in your city/town in order to figure out what it will take to get the resolution passed. Talk to people who know about the council members and see what is important to them.
Gather local resolutions. Show the support of your community by getting local groups – civic organizations, churches, schools, etc. to endorse a moratorium on executions. Seek out organizations that are especially persuasive to the council members, based on what’s important to them.
Enlist a sponsor. It may take some lobbying, or you may need to get some local support or extra local resolutions, just to get a council member to agree to introduce the council resolution. In some cities, it may take just a single phone call and the resolution will be on the next agenda.
Strategize. Ask your sponsor to help you figure out if there are enough votes to pass the resolution before the vote is actually called. He or she can tell you who on the council remains undecided and what might make them vote in your favor—a special meeting, bringing in a specific person to speak with them, another local resolution, a specific issue they need to hear about, etc.
Get ready for the vote. Be sure to hold off on a vote until you know that you have a good chance of winning. Your sponsor should be able to help you schedule things at the right time. Try to find out with plenty of lead-time when the vote will be called, so you have time to…
Activate your supporters. Ask local residents to come speak in support of your resolution and fill the hearing room when the resolution is debated. Let your sponsor know that you are lining up support. Encourage people to focus their remarks on the issues of basic fairness that underlie the need for a moratorium.
Alert the local media if your resolution is passed. “With the adoption of each resolution,” shares Steve Dear of North Carolina, “we gained statewide media exposure and new allies.” Clip news articles and send them to your legislators and governor along with copies of the ratified resolution. Write them hand-written notes telling them about the council’s vote. Legislators pay attention to what local lawmakers are doing.
Stand up and be counted! Send in your copies of ratified resolutions and resulting news stories to Equal Justice USA to be added to the National Tally. EJUSA | PO Box 5206 | Hyattsville, MD 20782.

Tips from successful city councils

Baltimore City, MD

The Baltimore City Council's resolution is rather unique in that there was relatively little initiative from the community standpoint. Taking the cue from State Delegate Salima Marriott's (D) work to get a moratorium passed in the state (HB388), Councilman Norman Handy introduced the idea to the Baltimore City Council. From there the moratorium resolution passed easily. Although there was quite a bit of support both from the community and the council members, press coverage was relatively little--despite the desire to do so, a press conference was not called. This lack of attention does not mean, however, that the city council's resolution hasn't had an impact. After the Baltimore City Council's resolution was voted into action, resolutions in both Prince George's and Montgomery counties were introduced and passed. All of this recent local government activity not only substantially raised public awareness about the issue, but also bears out a strong argument for the influence that such activity can have upon state legislation. This influence is found most notably in Governor Glendening's Executive Order 01.01.2000.10 (6/7/00)--an order that commuted the death sentence of Maryland inmate Eugene Colvin-El. As more municipalities are being called upon to introduce resolutions, the pressure for Maryland to become the second state to enact a moratorium on executions is mounting.

Crucial Points

Keep track of other local government resolutions as they pass, especially in the state in which you are working--added together, these can be a formidable force.
Work to keep community pressure on local and state legislators and executives as well; use the ratified resolutions for support.

Prince George's County, MD

When it comes to capital punishment, one important difference between counties and cities is the fact that the county bears the brunt of the cost for death penalty proceedings. When working to get a moratorium resolution passed through a county council, this fact can be useful in swaying fiscal conservatives into supporting the resolution. In the effort to pass the Prince George's County resolution, another successful tactic was the seeking out of political allies on the council. For instance, Vice Chair Peter Shapiro shared the fact that there was a Catholic council member who would vote against the resolution. Activists then arranged to have someone from the Catholic Church speak out in favor of the moratorium at the hearing. A good press strategy and a packed courtroom also helped to get this resolution passed. Issuing a press release the day before the vote helped not only to get more people to actively show support (via phone calls or testimony in the chambers), but it also raised awareness apart from the specific issue of a resolution. In this case, the press surrounding the ratification of a moratorium resolution helped to jump-start the efforts to get one introduced in Montgomery County (it passed two months later).

Crucial Points

Find your allies on the council and strategize! Try to ascertain who might vote against the resolution and how she or he might be swayed.
Understand and use to your advantage the ways in which the death penalty most negatively affects your town/city/county in particular--pay attention to dollars.
Know what other districts might be influenced by your town/city/county's council passing a resolution.

Buffalo, NY

Initially, one of the most important actions to take when working to get the moratorium resolution passed is to identify at least one progressive council member who can take the motion to the council. This person should also be willing to offer her or his aid and support throughout the attempt to get the resolution passed--she or he will be able to provide activists with valuable insight into the political make-up of the voting members. For the Buffalo moratorium, activist Chuck Calhane happened to run into a councilman at a church meeting where he spoke with him about the national situation regarding the death penalty. Calhane explained the influence that a Buffalo moratorium could have on both a national and state level and the councilman agreed to introduce the resolution. Community support for the moratorium was pretty substantial--probably due in part to Illinois Governor Ryan's decision to impose a moratorium in the state as well as the fact that the mayor of Buffalo is against capital punishment. Speakers proved to be quite influential in the outcome. There were seven speakers including academics, priests, and citizens at the Buffalo decision. The final vote was rather close, 8-5, indicating that the presence of such proponents is important. Press was another key component in the efforts to get the resolution passed. The Buffalo News ran articles both before and after the vote--in fact, in June of 2000 (not long after the city's passing of the resolution), the newspaper officially changed its stance on capital punishment when it publicly announced it position of opposition.

Crucial Points

Establish a relationship to a council member who both supports the moratorium resolution and is willing to work along with you to get it passed.
Get informed and authoritative people to speak out for the moratorium resolution
Make sure to keep the issue in the press--op eds especially help to get people talking and debating.
Send out a press release when the council passes the moratorium resolution—this will help the resolution to have a wider impact.

Erie, PA

The folks in Erie took a copy of the American Bar Association's resolution to a caucus of their council members in order to support their arguments for a moratorium on executions. In the three months between their presentation of the resolution and the actual vote, activists worked to gather further support. To start with, they obtained a list of council member's phone numbers and urged people to call in their opinions. This action definitely got the attention of the council people as several members asked for material regarding the death penalty; one council member even stated that she received more calls in favor of the pending moratorium than she has for any other resolution! The next step was to make sure that the council's chamber room was packed for the actual vote. Sister Marlene Bertke estimates that there were about 140 moratorium supporters present--people from faith communities, the ACLU, the NAACP and lawyers were all present. The final vote was reached and a moratorium was passed.

Crucial Points

Make sure to be well informed of the support surrounding the moratorium issue--i.e. get a copy of the ABA resolution or the resolutions of other local governments.
Work to gather grassroots community support prior to the vote--educate people on the death penalty.
Get people out for the vote! This puts the pressure on swing voters.
Make sure to line up knowledgeable and passionate people to speak out in support of the moratorium resolution.

Rollingwood, TX

Rollingwood's city council resolution, unlike many others, did not have quite as much community support. Prior to the introduction of a moratorium resolution, an activist sent out 72 Amnesty International handbooks to Unitarian Universalist Churches in the Southwest district; in these packets she included flyers containing information about the growing movement for a halt to executions. She then took a moratorium proposal to a meeting of her city council members and the resolution passed. Unfortunately there was minimal media coverage surrounding the resolution. Activists in the Austin area (around which both Rollingwood and Hays--another city whose council passed a resolution--are located) have kept up with the moratorium effort as they work with groups such as the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Together these folks are working to drum up community-wide support for a moratorium on executions via rally and speaker events.

Crucial Points

Work to have personal contact with your city council members as the proposal goes through.
Make sure to keep building support for a moratorium on the death penalty--even after your city council has passed a resolution.