We live in a broken society, but the Church is uniquely positioned to have a profound and lasting impact on the surrounding culture.
Did you know that if you are arrested on suspicion of criminal activity, law enforcement officials can seize cash and property they believe could have been connected to the crime, in some cases without even filing criminal charges against you?
The practice is called civil asset forfeiture, and it is being used across the country to help fund some of the various police units and prosecutors’ offices that are doing the seizing of property.
Ronal Sherpas identifies himself as a conservative, law-and-order type. The current professor of criminology at Loyola University in New Orleans previously served as police chief in both Nashville and New Orleans, and has spent over 34 years in law enforcement.
But when it comes to creating an effective strategy to reduce crime, Sherpas’ approach to reducing crime might not be what most people would imagine from a “tough on crime” career police officer.
In just a month, Indiana will be closing one of its minimum security prisons, Henryville Correctional Facility–a move which will hopefully assist the state’s new emphasis on corrections reform.
In 2014, the Indiana House of Representatives passed legislation that reroutes prisoners from state facilities into local jails.
David Padilla knew that he deserved to be punished for the drug dealing of his youth. But he didn’t see how it would benefit the community—or his wife Lisette and their four children—for him to die in prison.
After his third drug-related offense resulted in a life sentence, Padilla set out to become a model resident of the federal prison system.
Jacobia Grimes has a history of petty theft. Having previously been arrested five times for small-time robberies (and several other times for other low-level crimes), Grimes certainly had to expect that he would be facing some sort of punishment when he was caught stealing $31 in candy bars from a Dollar General store in Louisiana last December.
On Wednesday, March 30, President Obama announced the commutation of the sentences of 61 federal prisoners serving time for drug-related offenses. The commutations are but the most recent attempt by the administration to draw attention to the need for criminal justice reform.
A version of this article originally appeared on the Justice Fellowship website.
“I agree with you; I want to do it; now make me do it.”
So President Franklin Roosevelt is believed to have replied when labor leaders asked him for executive action.
On Thursday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced the rollout of his anti-poverty proposal, “Expanding Opportunities in America.” In the proposal, Ryan highlighted the 2.2 million Americans currently incarcerated and pushed for loosening the economic burdens that these men and women face upon return to their communities.