Prison Fellowship

  • DONATE
    • One-Time
    • Monthly
    • Angel Tree
    • Other Ways to Give
  • GET INVOLVED
    • All Options
    • Subscribe
    • Angel Tree Christmas
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Pray With Us
    • Justice Action Center
    • Share on Social
Search
  • STORIES
    • Stories
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • The Restoration Series [Videos]
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Why Help Prisoners?
    • What We Do
    • In-Prison
      • Prison Fellowship Academy
      • In-Prison Programs
      • Hope Events
      • Inside Journal
      • Women’s Ministry
      • Create: New Beginnings
    • Angel Tree
      • Register your church or group for Angel Tree
      • Prison Fellowship Angel Tree
      • Angel Tree Christmas
      • Angel Tree Camping
      • Angel Tree Sports Camp
    • Justice Reform
      • Justice Reform
      • Second Chance Month
      • News & Updates
      • Sign the Justice Declaration
      • Get a Copy of Outrageous Justice
    • Warden Exchange
    • Church Partners
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Preparing Prisoners for Reentry
    • Research and Evaluation
      • Good Citizenship Model®
  • RESOURCES
    • Subscribe to Our Email
    • Support for Friends and Family of Prisoners
      • Resources for Friends and Family of Prisoners
      • Coping with Incarceration
      • Resources for Prisoners
      • Resources for Children of Prisoners
      • Supporting Successful Prisoner Reentry
      • Subscribe To The Hope Connection
    • Resources for Churches and Volunteers
      • Resources for Churches and Volunteers
      • In-Prison Ministry
      • Reentry Ministry
      • Family Ministry
      • Justice Reform
      • Mentoring Ministry
    • Angel Tree Coordinator Training
    • Resources for Chaplains
    • Resources for D.O.C.
    • Justice Reform Resources
    • Create: New Beginnings Book
    • Share on Social
  • ABOUT US
    • Our Beliefs
    • Mission & Vision
    • Financials
      • Financials
      • 2024 Annual Report
    • Employment
    • Contact Us
    • In The News
    • Leadership
    • Chuck Colson
      • About Chuck Colson
      • The Charles Colson Hope Awards

Evangelical Leaders Push for Criminal Justice Reform

June 21, 2017 by Prison Fellowship

Evangelical-Leaders-Push-for-Criminal-Justice-Reform3WASHINGTON (RNS) Evangelical Christian leaders are spearheading a campaign for criminal justice reform, calling for equitable punishment, alternatives to incarceration and a different take on the “tough on crime” language of the Trump administration.

“Our country's overreliance on incarceration fails to make us safer or to restore people and communities who have been harmed,” said James Ackerman, president and chief executive officer of Prison Fellowship, at a Tuesday (June 20) news conference at the National Press Club.

Joined by black, white and Hispanic officials of evangelical organizations, he introduced the “Justice Declaration” that has been signed by close to 100 religious leaders from a wide range of Christian denominations.

“The Church has both the unique ability and unparalleled capacity to confront the staggering crisis of crime and incarceration in America,” the declaration reads, “and to respond with restorative solutions for communities, victims, and individuals responsible for crime.”

The leaders later presented their declaration to Republican leaders, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, in hopes of gaining bipartisan support for changes in federal law.

MANDATORY SENTENCING?

In a May memorandum to federal prosecutors, Attorney General Jeff Sessions established a stricter policy on charges and sentencing, saying they “should charge and pursue the most serious readily provable offense,” and consider using mandatory minimum sentences.

Ackerman said Prison Fellowship supports sentencing guidelines but thinks mandatory sentences are “a big mistake.”

He was joined at the news conference by leaders with testimonies of how churches helped formerly incarcerated people rehabilitate themselves and become productive citizens.

Dimas Salaberrios, president of the Concerts of Prayer Greater New York, told of how church members once vouched to a judge about his transformation after he escaped from authorities when he was a drug dealer. The judge pardoned him.

“I'm living proof that when you grab somebody out of the pits of hell and you turn their life around that they can be great contributors to society,” he said.

A CHALLENGE TO THE CHURCH

National Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson challenged churches to do more than sign the declaration but also take action steps to address racial inequities and work for alternatives such as drug courts and mental health courts to keep people out of prison.

Thirteen percent of Americans are African-American but close to 40 percent of U.S. prisoners are black.

“What if all of our churches were to adopt one incarcerated person?” he asked. “What if all of our churches would service one family where a family member is incarcerated? What if all of our churches would care for one victim?”

DIVERSE AND UNIFIED LEADERS

The declaration, and a related 11-page paper on how the church can respond to crime and incarceration, were spearheaded by evangelical organizations: Prison Fellowship, the NAE, the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

But signatories on the declaration include a wider range of Christian leaders, such as Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Bread for the World President David Beckmann and Bishop Frank Dewane, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

Despite the unified voices, a new Barna Group poll commissioned by Prison Fellowship found that 53 percent of practicing Christians—Christians who have attended a church service at least once in the past month and describe their faith as very important—agree with the statement: “It's important to make an example out of someone for certain crimes, even if it means giving them a more severe punishment than their crime deserves.”

Restorative justice proponents said the finding indicates they have more work to do.

“We as a church are not recognizing that disproportional punishment—that is, giving someone more than they deserve—is not consistent with our values and certainly will not help us advance the hope of a restorative justice system we all seek,” said Ackerman.

This article was originally written by Adelle M. Banks and was by published by Religion News Service. It is reprinted here with permission. 

ABOUT ADELLE M. BANKS

Adelle M. Banks, production editor and a national reporter, joined Religion News Service in 1995. An award-winning journalist, she previously was the religion reporter at the Orlando Sentinel and a reporter at The Providence Journal and newspapers in the upstate New York communities of Syracuse and Binghamton.


OTHER ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

CHRISTIAN LEADERS SIGN THE JUSTICE DECLARATION
A historic moment for the Church in America.

U.S. SENATE DECLARES APRIL SECOND CHANCE MONTH
U.S. Senate declares April Second Chance Month in a bipartisan and unanimous decision. Second Chance Month aims at raising awareness of the “second prison.”

CHRISTIANS’ ATTITUDES REGARDING CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
Read a summary of Prison Fellowship's proprietary research on Christians' attitudes regarding criminal justice reform.

Filed Under: Prison Fellowship News & Updates, Advocacy & Reentry, Feature Stories, Press Releases Tagged With: Barna Group, Colson Center For Christian Worldview;, Concert of Prayer Greater New York, Jeff Sessions, National Association of Evangelicals, Religion News Service, Southern Baptist Convention, The Justice Declaration, Trump Administration, U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

SELECT A TOPIC

  • Advocacy & Reentry
  • Angel Tree
  • Families of Prisoners
  • Feature Stories
  • From the CEO
  • Hope Events
  • Inside Journal
  • Press Releases
  • Prison & Prisoners
  • Prison Fellowship Academy
  • Prison Fellowship International
  • Prison Fellowship News & Updates
  • Reentry
  • Second Chance Month
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Warden Exchange

MOST POPULAR

The Powerful Love of Moms Behind Bars

May 7, 2025

How Camp Can Change the Life of a Prisoner’s Child

April 30, 2025

Prison Fellowship’s Statement After United States Senate Declares April 2025 as Second Chance Month

April 29, 2025

LATEST VIDEOS

WATCH ALL VIDEOS

Join our online community

Facebook Facebook X (Twitter) X (Twitter) Instagram Instagram YouTube YouTube LinkedIn LinkedIn
PF®
PFM®

RECOMMENDED LINKS

  • Ways to Donate
  • Inspirational Stories
  • Angel Tree
  • Prison Fellowship Academy
  • Justice Reform

RESOURCES

  • For Families & Friends of Prisoners
  • For Churches & Angel Tree Volunteers
  • Warden Exchange

JOIN RESTORATION PARTNERS AND WITNESS GOD RESTORE LIVES

Restoration Partners give monthly to bring life-changing prison ministry programs to incarcerated men and women across the country.

 

JOIN NOW
  • CONTACT US
  • EMPLOYMENT
  • PRIVACY
  • FINANCIALS
© 2025 PRISON FELLOWSHIP®

Angel Tree®, Angel Tree Camping®, Angel Tree Sports CampTM, and Warden Exchange® are programs of Prison Fellowship®.