Conservative Faith Leaders Join FAMM and Justice Fellowship in Exploring Christian Perspectives on Crime

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 11, 2012

Contact: Monica Pratt Raffanel, FAMM, (202) 822-6700 or media@famm.org                

Contact: Elisabeth Boehm, Justice Fellowship, (703) 703-554-8552 or Elisabeth_Boehm@pfm.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – FAMM and Justice Fellowship (the advocacy arm of Prison Fellowship Ministries) hosted a panel briefing on Capitol Hill today to discuss a biblical approach to crime and punishment and why conservative Christian constituents are engaging in this debate. The standing-room-only event took place against the backdrop of national concern about dangerously overcrowded prisons, excessive mandatory minimum sentences, and high costs to taxpayers.  

Four prominent conservative faith leaders spoke out in favor of finding smarter, less expensive ways to control crime and rehabilitate offenders at the federal level. The panelists were: Craig DeRoche, Justice Fellowship; Barrett Duke, Southern Baptist Convention; Galen Carey, National Association of Evangelicals, and Kathy Saile, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Molly M. Gill, FAMM government affairs counsel, moderated the panel.

“This is a critical election year, and the United States is at a crossroads in our approach to crime and punishment. We have the largest prison population and some of the harshest and most expensive sentencing laws in the world, including one-size-fits-all mandatory minimum prison terms,” said Molly M. Gill, FAMM governmental affairs director. “The faith leaders on this panel demonstrate that Christian voters believe that both the Bible and the budget demand congressional action on this issue,” said Ms. Gill.

Craig DeRoche, vice president of Justice Fellowship, the advocacy arm of Prison Fellowship Ministries, spoke first. “Policies like mandatory minimums have distracted us from the three primary areas of responsibility for government: making communities safe, restoring victims, and transforming lives of offenders so they can become productive members of society,” said Mr. Deroche.

Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy and research of the Southern Baptist Convention, said he is deeply concerned about the rate of crime and how our country deals with it. “Punishment should fit crime - neither leniency nor excess is right,” said Dr. Duke.

Galen Carey, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals said, “Evangelicals appreciate both the freedoms which we enjoy as Americans, and the rule of law that undergirds those freedoms. We support neither anarchy nor tyranny. In our recent history we have not been immune to the general trend toward a more punitive approach to criminal justice. But this tendency stands in sharp tension with the inherently hopeful message of evangelical faith, something that is consistently reflected in NAE statements on criminal justice reform. When we see prisoners as fellow human beings made in God’s image, we can no longer just lock them up and throw away the key.”

Mr. Carey told the audience that nearly 30 years ago the NAE adopted a resolution on sentencing reform, citing overcrowding resulting from harsh sentences as a key factor in the unacceptably high recidivism rate. In 1997, the NAE adopted a resolution on the church’s responsibility to prisoners. At the briefing, Carey said that Congress should establish a Criminal Justice Commission, as endorsed by Sen. Jim Webb; expand the use of alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders; insist on a prison environment that promotes rehabilitation; increase and simplify access of chaplains and volunteers, and support ex-offenders as they re-establish their futures.

Kathy Saile, a director at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, “The Catholic Bishops have rejected mandatory minimums and other simplistic solutions because they fail to account for individual circumstances and eliminate chances for rehabilitation.”

FAMM is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety. Justice Fellowship is the advocacy arm of Prison Fellowship Ministries. For more information, contact Monica Pratt Raffanel at media@famm.org or Elisabeth Boehm at Elisabeth_Boehm@pfm.org.

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