Felony Murder Elimination Project is asking our supporters, especially from Alameda County in California, to send a loud, clear message to District Attorney Jones Dickson: No more death penalty in Alameda County!

While Alameda County cannot unilaterally abolish the death penalty as it is a state-level law in California, recent local actions have significantly reduced its use through a historic review of past cases. The review resulted from a 2024 federal court order requiring the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office to review 35 capital cases for evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, specifically the illegal exclusion of Black and Jewish people from juries.

Several high-profile Alameda County capital convictions were vacated or overturned due to racial bias and misconduct:

• Franklin Lynch (Feb 2026): His death sentence and conviction were vacated after evidence showed the prosecutor used racially discriminatory language and biased jury selection.
• Curtis Lee Ervin (Aug 2024): A federal judge overturned his conviction because prosecutors had barred 9 out of 11 potential Black jurors.
• Ernest Dykes (2024): Resentenced and freed after notes revealed clear racial and religious bias in jury selection.

After reviewing the evidence, a federal judge called for resentencing in every death penalty case under his purview (20 cases total were resentenced with the cooperation of the former DA), but 14 death penalty cases remain.

Following the recall of former District Attorney Pamela Price, who initiated the sweeping reviews, the current District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson has moved to withdraw some of the previous administration’s resentencing recommendations. This position comes despite California Governor Gavin Newsom instituting a statewide moratorium on executions in 2019, which remains in effect. No executions have occurred in California since 2006. Additionally, many recent successful challenges in Alameda County rely on the California Racial Justice Act, which allows defendants to challenge convictions based on racial bias in the legal process.

Instead of fighting this process, District Attorney Jones Dickson should use her authority to confront the systemic failures of this outdated policy and take steps to seek resentencing in all death-sentenced cases, just as other California DAs have done. This isn’t about individual cases, it is about a system that is unjust, ineffective, and unfixable.

You can take action TODAY and let DA Jones Dickson know you stand in loud, vocal, and fierce opposition to the office’s refusal to take corrective steps of resentencing in all of Alameda’s remaining capital cases —>>>D.A. Jones Dickson: No More Death Penalty in Alameda County!