The annual Death Penalty Focus Awards dinner April 24 celebrated the achievement of New Jersey as the first state to ban the death penalty in several decades. Best-selling author John Grisham was also recognized for drawing attention to wrongful convictions.

The 2008 Abolition Award was given to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and to New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. In Dec. 2007 New Jersey became the first state to pass a law abolishing the death penalty since the U.S. Supreme Court reauthorized capital punishment in 1976. Corzine signed the legislation spearheaded by state Sen. Raymond Lesniak.

"I believe that by repealing the death penalty, and replacing it with life without parole, New Jersey took a giant step forward toward a more evolved justice system," wrote Corzine in a statement acknowledging his award, which he was not present to receive.

The grassroots movement in New Jersey to urge lawmakers to eliminate the death penalty was motivated by a conviction that the death penalty is applied unjustly to people of color and to the poor as well as being immoral in principle, said coalition members. The broad based coalition included 60 family members of murder victims who oppose the death penalty.

Grisham received the Justice in the Arts Award for his non-fiction work, "The Innocent Man." The book chronicles the true story of how Ron Williamson was arrested and charged with a crime he did not commit and ended up on Oklahoma's death row until he was proved innocent and exonerated some 20 years later.

The writing of the book, said Grisham, exposed him to the all too-frequent world of wrongful convictions and the pain and suffering it causes the innocent.

Azim Noordin Khamisa of La Jolla was recognized for his commitment to restorative justice and to the transformative power of forgiveness in the midst of the pain of the murder of his son.

Khamisa's 20-year-old son Tariq, a university student, was murdered while delivering pizzas in 1995 by a 14-year-old gang member. Horrified by the young age of his son's assailant, Khamisa said he came to believe that there were "victims at both ends of the gun."

He said he pondered what about American society that was leading youth to join gangs. In response, Khamisa forgave the youth who killed his son and started the Tariq Khamisa Foundation to stop kids from killing kids. "I decided to become a foe of the societal forces that causes this to happen," said Khamisa.

He also reached out to the grandfather and guardian of his son's teenage killer and invited him to join him in the effort. The two have visited schools and brought their message of non-violence and forgiveness to more than half a million elementary and middle school children and to more than 20 million through video.

Also honored at the dinner, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, were Sid Sheinberg for his service as vice chair of the national board of Human Rights Watch; Julian Bond for his work in the Civil Rights Movement and for his service as chair of the board of the NAACP; and Sarah Timberman and Ed Redlich for their service on the board of directors of Death Penalty Focus.