Talking to Each Other in the Dark: The American Abolition Movement and the Christian Opportunity

Within the United States, the organized movement to abolish the death penalty has many advantages: it is relatively well-funded, is co-ordinated, faces no similarly unified group of opponents, and has a strong core of articulate and committed activists. It has also won a string of victories, as five states (Connecticut in 2012, Illinois in 2011, New Jersey in 2007, New Mexico in 2009, and New York in 2007) have gone from embracing to rejecting the death penalty in just the last six years (Death Penalty Information Center [DPIC], 2012).