(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Thermal Thursday: Christianity and Criminal Justice [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2022-10-06

But now onto our title topic. A few DKos commenters often complain that progressive Christians don’t make enough noise, which I think is sometimes a valid complaint. So I’ll use this space to discuss progressive Christianity’s views on the issues. These are not my views alone. Note that there are and have long been progressive Christian religio-political groups, some of whom are trying to become more vocal and get more noticed.

Reverend Barber’s site made today’s topic easy for me:

Did you know that we imprison and detain more people, especially poor people, than any country in the world? The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, almost five times the average for other wealthy countries [with vast increases over previous decades]. The mass incarceration system costs at least $182 billion every year, including $80.7 billion for public corrections agencies and $63.2 billion for policing. Since 1976, federal spending on prisons increased tenfold to $7.5 billion a year. The number of sentenced state and federal inmates grew from 188,000 in 1968 to nearly 1.5 million in 2016. Two thirds of these inmates are people of color, while Native Americans are incarcerated at a 38 percent higher rate than the national average. Since 1970, counties with fewer than 250,000 people have driven jail growth, reflecting a shift in rural and urban incarceration trends. Women held in local jails are the fastest-growing segment of incarcerated people in the United States; most are Black or Latinx. From 1970 to 2014, the total female jail population increased 14-fold from under 8,000 to nearly 110,000. More than 80 percent of these women were imprisoned for non-violent offenses. This coincides with the broader criminalization of poverty and the poor. By the Department of Justice’s own admission, 95 percent of the growth in the incarcerated population since 2000 is the result of an increase in the number of un-convicted defendants, many of whom are unable to make bail.

Why should this concern Christians? It’s the right thing to do, but also there are Biblical verses:

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom by like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruin shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets to live in. (Isaiah 58) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.... He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives..., to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)

FACT CHECK: Has bail reform in New York State led to increased crime (as claimed by Kathy Hochul’s opponent in the governor’s race here?)?

According to the Brennan Center, no!:

1) Judges still have discretion, almost certainly will set bail for violent crimes.

2) Judges may set other conditions to ensure defendants make their court dates.

3) After the disruption of Covid, crime rose across the country, with rates nearly identical in areas with bail reform and areas without.

4) About 80,000 people released after reform committed no further crimes.

Note also that interestingly, New York has some of the LOWEST overall and violent crime rates, and the map at this link shows the highest rates mostly in the South and Northwest.

Some of the reasons for the increase in crime nationwide (also from the Brennan Center, link above)?

So support cashless bail as a racial and criminal justice issue, and rest assured that doing so will not increase the crime rate.

And finally, let’s elevate our Community Cred and repost The Needs List! From Aashirs nani (with permission) on Helping Humpday, with some variations on bolding for variety’s sake.

PLEASE NOTE:

When sending via PayPal, be sure to select “Send to family/friend” to avoid fees on either end. Be aware, both donor and recipient, that GFM not only charges fees, but also money received through that platform is treated as taxable income. If you are requesting help through GFM, also be aware that there can be

UPDATE from Yesterday!: The Kos Katalogue 2022 is here. Updated by CathyM and BeadLady. If you’re looking for unique gifts, check it out, all purchases support DKos members! If you’d like to be added, contact CathyM or BeadLady and be sure to include links.

I’m in for a mickle toward a DKos member on the Needs List. I hope you’ll join me. Always glad to see the needed amounts gradually decreasing!

If helping financially isn’t the right choice for you at this time, you can still help. Tip and rec the diary so it stays visible. Share on social media: Twitter, Facebook, whatever platform you use, to bring the attention of others outside our daily readers. And offer words of encouragement to people who are struggling. It can be scary to be struggling, and it can feel lonely. Let them know we understand and are here to help.

If you have time, please visit the diaries above and leave comments for their authors. Those words of encouragement are vital!

If you don’t like fundraisers, please just move along. They are a longstanding tradition at DKos — Until we vote in enough progressives to create a much stronger social safety net!

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/6/2127343/-Thermal-Thursday-Christianity-and-Criminal-Justice

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.