PRISON FELLOWSHIP: Justice Reform

Our general primer on criminal justice issues, featuring statistics and suggested legislation guidelines.

Earlier today, Pope Francis arrived in Washington, D.C. to begin a week-long visit to the United States.  In addition to visits to the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and the 9-11 Memorial in New York City, Pope Francis will also visit the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia.

The criminal justice system was a vital concern to the late Chuck Colson and the organization he founded, Prison Fellowship. The need for Reform is ongoing. And to that end, John Stonestreet welcomes former Congressman J.

In January of 2014, the U.S. Congress established the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections.  Prison Fellowship President and CEO Jim Liske was asked to serve on that task force, representing the interests of Prison Fellowship, and providing a voice to millions of prisoners and their families.

In the highly partisan environment of Washington, DC, there is precious little on which policy makers and influencers on both sides of the political divide can agree.  The subject of criminal justice reform, however, appears to be one of the few where Republicans and Democrats are willing to work together to enact meaningful change.

When Israel was almost overcome by surrounding nations, Gideon and his 300 men encircled the enemy camp with torches hidden inside of earthenware jars. On a signal, they broke their jars, began to yell, and let their torches shine forth. The enemy army, convinced they were about to be attacked by a superior force, fled in confusion (Judges 7).

On Tuesday, the case of Holt vs. Hobbs went before the Supreme Court.

The case is brought by Gregory Holt, who is incarcerated in Arkansas and desires to grow a beard in accordance with his Muslim faith. Prison policy in Arkansas prohibits beards for security reasons.

When seeking to improve the effectiveness of our current prison systems here in the United States, it is important to recognize the humanity of those behind bars.  So says Prison Fellowship President and CEO Jim Liske in a recent op-ed article for the Huffington Post.

The following post originally appeared on the Justice Fellowship website.

With the amount of talk about recidivism, there is very little focus on people who do not commit another offense after their release. It is assumed that everyone who committed an offense poses a high threat of committing another one.

Hank Green, half of the of the popular “Vlogbrothers” video blog team, was recently asked by a viewer, “If you could do a high-quality animated video about any issue in the world, what would you choose?”  Green’s response?  “I went with incarceration in America, because it is messed up.”

“[The] vast prison-industrial complex has succeeded in reducing crime but is a blunt instrument,” National Review columnist Rich Lowry writes in a recent online article. “Prison stays often constitute a graduate seminar in crime, and at the very least, the system does a poor job preparing prisoners to return to the real world.”

We are pleased to announce that the U.S. House Appropriations Committee honored Chuck Colson with a task force on federal corrections. The Committee has set aside funds in the FY2014 spending bill to establish the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections to make recommendations to increase public safety, improve offender accountability, reduce recidivism, address victims’ services, and control costs.

The following post originally appeared on the Justice Fellowship website.  To learn more about Justice Fellowship and its efforts to reform the criminal justice system, visit www.justicefellowship.org.

If movie stars and rappers can put together a loud call for just laws and smart sentencing practices, why can’t Christians get more mobilized?