Like it or not, the death penalty remains an issue that scares legislators. True, a majority of Americans no longer think the death penalty deters crime, and true the number of death sentences and executions continue to drop, and it is true that the more people learn about the death penalty, the less likely they are to support it, but a majority of Americans do still support the death penalty and many of them get very angry about it. So it isn't easy for elected officials to look "soft on crime" even when we know that the death penalty, by taking money out of the coffers of local law enforcement and D.A.s, actually puts us more at risk.

So to get them to do what they know is right, we need to show them that they have support in their districts, and one of the best ways to do that is to pass moratorium resolutions in local churches and small businesses. To that end, I spent Saturday in Memphis. The main event on my schedule was conducting a training in resolution gathering to our three person moratorium team, that we formed in Memphis last month.

Resolution trainings are a fun little event. Most of the training involves role playing and practice in going into small businesses and making a one to two minute pitch to the owner. TCASK provides pretty binders with visual aids that both keep the resolution gatherer on script and enhance the presentation for the business owner as well.

We had a good time (we were on an second story porch and it was a very nice day out) and the team did a really good time going through the pitch. But, the highlight came when we got a resolution before we had even finished the training. You see, "Food Not Bombs" came by to drop off a donation of bread. One of our team members ran down to the van and did her first pitch, and, thinking on her feet, pointed out that "Food Not Bombs" groups in several other Tennessee cities had already passed these resolutions (included in the binder is a list of all the Tennessee moratorium endorsers), and so they signed up. Man! I must be good!

So Memphis has a new moratorium resolution and a team heading out with 15 businesses already targeted in the next month. As we move toward a municipal resolution in Memphis and a legislative victory in the state assembly these resolutions will help make the difference.