About MD CASE

Maryland Citizens Against State Executions is a coalition of groups and individuals united to end the death penalty in Maryland through education, grassroots action, and public demonstration.

The abolition of the death penalty will come about one heart at a time. What can you do to help end the death penalty in Maryland? Speak to a neighbor or friend, invite a speaker from Maryland CASE to address your group, and send a donation to CASE (we are a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, so your contributions are fully tax-deductible). Contact CASE for more information.

 

Staff

Jane Henderson, Executive Director
Jane Henderson, a former Co-director of the Maryland-based Quixote Center and founder of the Center's Equal Justice USA program, has been a principal moratorium organizer in the state. Her leadership in Maryland won her the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's "Abolitionist of the Year" Award in 2002. Henderson brings years of experience in national and state anti-death penalty movements.

Amy Fusting, Program Director

Amy Fusting worked as a Legislative Aide for Senator Edward M Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee while attending George Washington University Law School. After graduating from law school she worked as the Bill Analyst for the House Judiciary Committee in the Maryland House of Delegates and went on to be an Assistant Public Defender in Montgomery County form 1992-1999. She was named Outstanding Assistant Public Defender from that office in 1998. Most recently, Amy worked as a Staff Attorney for the Public Defender's Legislative Division.

Peter Jones, Business Manager

Peter Jones is the former director of the Labor Heritage Foundation and a former boycott organizer for the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO.

Bonnita Spikes, Murder Victims' Family Members Organizer

Bonnita Spikes has made it her life's work to stop capital punishment in Maryland and across the country. Using her skills as a former union organizer, Spikes brings people together to discuss the death penalty and rally against it. Spikes' own life was touched by violent crime in a heartbreaking way when her husband, Michael, was murdered in 1994 - nobody has ever been charged with the crime. Paying particular attention to Baltimore City, a Maryland jurisdiction dealing with the highest homicide rate in the state, Spikes reaches out to others who've lost loved ones in this most tragic of ways.

 

Board

Christa Beverly (Cheverly)

Sam Epps (Laurel)

Deborah Fleischaker (Silver Spring)

Stephanie Gibson (Chair, Baltimore)

Trisha Kendall (Baltimore)

Vivian Penda (Silver Spring)

Mary Ellen Russell (Annapolis, MD)

Vicki Schieber (Co-Chair, New Market)

Melanie Share (Secretary, Columbia)

Scott Sokol (Baltimore County)

Holly Syrrakos (Treasurer, Takoma Park)