Until a few months ago, I had never heard of Equal Justice USA (EJUSA). But when a source reached out, informing me that the anti-violence nonprofit with a long record of impact was shutting down due to the Trump administration’s funding cuts, my alarm bells went off.
As I looked into EJUSA’s history, my curiosity grew: This organization has helped end the death penalty in 11 states. It secured millions of dollars in federal compensation for crime victims of color.
How did Trump kill it?
I learned that it was one of hundreds of nonprofits that received Department of Justice notices back in April stating that their grants to support victims of violent crime—which Attorney General Pam Bondi derided as “wasteful”—were being canceled. I also learned that EJUSA was not alone: It was one of about 60 nonprofits whose canceled federal funding was specifically intended for community violence intervention (CVI) programs, which bring residents and victim-service providers together to devise strategies for reducing violence, often without involving police. Research shows they have helped reduce shootings.
So why is Trump defunding public safety efforts proven to work—especially given his apparent obsession with reducing crime? Great question. (I asked spokespeople for the White House and DOJ, and nobody got back to me.) While that may remain unknown, the impacts of these moves are already emerging: EJUSA appears to be the only nonprofit that had to totally shut down, but nearly a dozen others that lost federal funding for CVI have cut staff and programs, I found. Experts fear that more violence—and closures of other organizations combating it—will follow. As EJUSA’s executive director, Jamila Hodge, told me, “We’re just the tip of the iceberg.”
To learn more about the impacts of the DOJ cuts, I hope you’ll give my piece a read.
—Julianne McShane
