Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2016

Abstract

This article is one person's reflections on how an important influence on his own sense of moral values -- Jesus Christ -- affects his thinking about his own approach to his role as a public official in a secular society, using the vital topic of criminal justice as a focal point. This article draws several important lessons from Christ's teachings about the concept of the other that are relevant to issues of criminal justice. Using Catholicism as a framework, this article addresses, among other things, capital punishment and denying the opportunity for redemption; the problem of racial disparities in the criminal justice system; the problem of over-incarceration of poor defendants through the use of money bail; the problem of ever increasing mandatory minimums and a sprawling criminal code; and the need to improve the relationship between and the effectiveness of police in protecting communities of color. Finally, the article reminds us that Christ requires compassion and respect for all, and that any reasoned discussion of criminal justice must accord respect, empathy, and compassion to those victimized by crime, and those who do the tough job of law enforcement and corrections.

Keywords

criminal justice, ethics, capital punishment, Catholicism, Christianity, redemption, incarceration rates, law enforcement, mandatory minimum sentences, race, discriminatory sentences, bail, poor, income gap

Publication Title

Santa Clara Law Review

Publication Citation

56 Santa Clara L. Rev. 631 (2016).

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