Second Chances: A Deeply Biblical Value | Sojourners

Second Chances: A Deeply Biblical Value

A dove flies above a cage of glass. Image courtesy Yu Lan/shutterstock.com.
A dove flies above a cage of glass. Image courtesy Yu Lan/shutterstock.com.

It’s no secret that the prison population in the United States has exploded in recent decades. We incarcerate our citizens at higher rates than any other developed nation. The federal prison population has increased by almost 790 percent since 1980. The number of children with one or more incarcerated parents has increased at an astonishing rate of 80 percent since 1991.

None of this is news—the public sphere is filled with the voices of policy makers and activists condemning the system and offering common sense solutions. But incarceration is not just a political issue—it’s an issue of morality and faith.

The mass incarceration of mostly Black and Latino men and women has moral implications in two ways. First, our current “tough-on-crime” approach to criminal justice has cost taxpayers a substantial amount with little effect on crime rates. These tax dollars could be spent instead on education, mental health, or drug rehabilitation. The way we spend public money reflects our public values. (Sound familiar?)

In addition, there are far-reaching moral implications of the act of naming someone “criminal." This label is inhumane, unjust, and unholy.

The “criminal” label has devastating effects on quality of life and equality of opportunity for many individuals. It is nearly impossible to shake. Most federal education grants are not available to someone with a criminal background. In many cities, access to subsidized or public housing is banned based on arrests or incarceration. Many states ban those with criminal backgrounds from food stamp eligibility. Being forced tocheck the box on an employment application indicating a past felony conviction essentially lands that application in the trash. The Sentencing Project estimates a total of 5.85 million people have been banned from voting because of a past conviction.

In the United States’ criminal justice system, the inherent, God-given humanity of a person is reduced to the label of “criminal." This label becomes the person’s identity, and our society does not allow people to shake the label, even after they have paid their dues. Unfortunately, this label often leads to poverty and an almost inevitable return to crime.

But Christians have a unique, biblically-based perspective on labels. In Christ, “sinners” become “beloved ones." The excluded, hated, and oppressed become included, wanted, and loved.

Numerous stories underscore this important biblical theme: Jesus sits with and affirms the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus saves the prostitute from being stoned by turning the Pharisees’ judgment back on them. The prodigal son is welcomed back with open arms, with no questions asked about his criminal background—he is simply taken back into the fold, redeemed in his father’s eyes, and welcomed home.

The concept of a second chance is an inherently biblical value. The overwhelming majority of individuals in federal and state jails have been convicted of a nonviolent crime, but our current system distrusts and disdains the “criminal” label so deeply that lives are forever changed by it. But a second chance, a beacon of light, an outstretched arm of grace—nothing is as Christ-like as this. And people of faith should be leading the way by speaking the truth—that we all have inherent dignity, and we all deserve the grace of God.

The Second Chance Reauthorization Act (S. 1690/H.R. 3465) was passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee last week with bipartisan support, a feat of almost epic proportions in this era of congressional gridlock. This bill, first passed in 2008, gives resources to state and local officials and nonprofit organizations for prisoner re-entry programs. These programs work to support substance abuse treatment rather than incarceration, allow faith based and educational organizations to provide recidivism reduction activities for inmates, and continue researching best practices for on-the-ground workers to implement in their communities.

This law must be passed in order to continue implementing these critical and influential programs. You can check to see if your senators have cosponsored this bill here and check for your representative here. In an environment where partisan gridlock stalls even the most basic of legislative proposals, Democrats and Republicans are presenting a united front on this issue: we must not allow people to be defined by their mistakes.

While Congress cannot seem to make progress on the federal budget or immigration reform, this is the chance Senators and Representatives have to do their part in reforming the criminal justice system. This is remarkable news and a step in the right direction toward curtailing mass incarceration in the United States.

Charissa Laisy is Mobilizing Assistant for Sojourners.

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