Equal Justice USA to Close amid Federal Funding Cuts

Equal Justice USA (EJUSA), a national organization that amplifies responses to violence that break cycles of trauma and center victims and survivors, has announced that it will fully wind down its operations by August 15. The news comes just months after the Trump administration abruptly canceled over $800 million in grantsintended for gun violence prevention, addiction prevention, victim advocacy, and other anti-violence initiatives.

As NPQ reported in April, these cancellations caused much uncertainty among community violence intervention (CVI) programs, which use public health approaches to address gun violence. In the wake of the Trump administration’s funding cuts, CVI programs nationwide have conducted layoffs, which have affected justice-impacted individuals who already face significant barriers to employment.

Most of the rescinded grants were funded through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a push by President Biden to address rising gun violence in America. The passage of this legislation marked the first time that grassroots groups could apply for federal CVI funding without having to go through law enforcement or state intermediaries. Biden also established the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which was disbanded on Trump’s first day in office.

“While the work is ending prematurely, it is not the end of the movement we’ve built together.”

In the weeks leading up to the federal cuts in April, EJUSA had already attempted to narrow its focus as a means of cutting expenses. The organization ended both its Death Penalty Program and its Trauma to Trust program—a training program that brought community members and law enforcement officials together to cultivate empathy and mutual understanding of trauma.

But after losing over $3 million in federal funds, which comprised a significant portion of the organization’s budget, EJUSA’s leaders underwent dozens of meetings and deliberations. They finally decided that they needed to wind down the organization’s operations.

“While the work is ending prematurely, it is not the end of the movement we’ve built together,” said CEO Jamila Hodge and Board Chair Lenny Noisette in a joint statement. “There is still so much more to do to move this country away from its reliance on a punishment framework that is racist and harmful to a system that is rooted in healing and justice.”

“Legal experts, gun violence interventionists, and former DOJ officials said funding cuts threaten…community violence intervention initiatives that have taken years to establish and are embedded in predominantly Black and Latino communities.”

What EJUSA’s Loss Means for Justice-Impacted Individuals

In announcing this decision, Hodge and Noisette highlighted some of the accomplishments that EJUSA had made over its 30-year existence. In doing so, they also highlighted how much of a loss the organization will be, particularly to those who are directly impacted by violence.

EJUSA started as a death penalty abolition organization. In the 30 years since its founding, the organization has helped bring about significant change, including:

• Helping to end the death penalty in 11 states while working with dozens of other states to advance their campaigns
• Securing more than $4 million of federal funds for community organizations supporting crime victims
• Building the Conservatives Concerned and the Evangelical Network to create conversations and bridge gaps in thinking about the death penalty, violence, and harm
• Creating the Restorative Justice Project, the only national technical assistance and training initiative partnering with communities nationwide to address harm
• Supporting 14 communities across the country to build alternatives to policing, prosecutions, and prisons

The organization’s impending closure serves as a telling example of the harm that will result from the loss of federal resources, say its outgoing leaders.

“We are not alone. Our LinkedIn feeds have been a continuous stream of layoff announcements and postings by brilliant people now looking for work, all in or adjacent to the EJUSA field of work. Just the other day, we received notice from another organization doing racial justice work that they were shutting their doors,” Hodge and Noisette said.

The Council on Criminal Justice points out that the cuts impacted organizations from 37 states across the country—“in red and blue states, and urban, suburban, and rural areas alike.” Grants to nonprofits comprised the majority of the terminations. The organization points out that these grant terminations will inevitably jeopardize public safety and trust in the government. Further, they will result in waste as federal funds have been cut before deliverables are fulfilled.

Reuters reported that “nearly a dozen interviews with legal experts, gun violence interventionists, and former DOJ officials said funding cuts threaten the long-term sustainability of community violence intervention initiatives that have taken years to establish and are embedded in predominantly Black and Latino communities.”

In the wake of EJUSA’s announcements, some nonprofit leaders and organizations have released statements in solidarity.

“EJUSA is one of the many organizations that lost critical funding under these cuts and now are closing their doors as a direct result. The closure of organizations that save lives and support healing does not make anyone safer,” said the Vera Institute for Justice, which had $5 million in federal grants abruptly canceled by the Trump administration in April.

In another statement on LinkedIn, Joshua Rovner, the director of Youth Justice at the Sentencing Project, also lamented EJUSA’s closing. “They were great partners,” wrote Rovner. “These are really excellent people who were doing important work to heal communities harmed by violence and to shrink the footprint of the youth justice system.”