|
A Theological Basis for
Ending the Sentencing Disparity
By Bill Mefford
The Faith in
Action Criminal Justice Reform Working Group, which I co-lead, is made up
of faith organizations from across the religious and political spectrum.
Groups came together to help achieve passage of the Second Chance Act – a
bill providing assistance for prisoners’ reentry – and we found a number
of other issues on which we share values. Our goal is to bring crucial
reforms to the criminal justice system and we have identified the current
crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity as grossly unjust and in
long overdue need of change.
With
2.3 million people currently incarcerated in the United States, and the
numbers only climbing, communities are not safer and the flow of drugs
into our communities has not been curbed. Long mandatory minimum sentences
deny both judicial discretion as well as necessary treatment for those who
suffer from addiction as the root cause of their criminal behavior.
For people of faith, Scripture
clearly provides values that undermine a mindless “get-tough-on-crime”
stance and instead call for rethinking the actual intention of our
criminal justice system. Last year, the General Board of Church and
Society of the United Methodist Church released a statement which stated
in part, “This sentencing unfairness and the mass use of incarceration of
mostly poor and minority people cannot be maintained by faithfulness to
Scripture. God continually rebukes the wealthy and the powerful for
withholding justice from the poor and the vulnerable. Biblical justice is
achieved through legally restoring those wrongfully accused and
inclusively creating the opportunity for equal justice for those
marginalized. Rather than a means of harsh punishment, God intends justice
to be a healing balm to all of society.”
Imagine if the criminal justice system was actually a means of
healing to society. Scripture helps to clarify what that picture of a
healing presence looks like through God’s commands to the new nation of
Israel to create a system of justice that is characterized by:
- the right of the poor to impartial justice
(Deuteronomy 16:19);
- the importance of fully hearing the
context of each person’s case (Deuteronomy 1:17); and
- accountability for the “guilty” so that
the end result is restoration of the individual and the community at
large.
The question which
then begs to be answered is if our current criminal justice system
measures up. The answer is a resounding no. For instance,
- The Sentencing Project reports that
although two-thirds of crack cocaine users are white or Hispanic, in
2005 82.3% of crack cocaine defendants were African American. This
brand of justice is anything but impartial.
- As with all mandatory minimums, the
ability for judges to weigh relevant circumstances or to hear the full
context in which the crime was committed are invalid as there is no
judicial discretion allowed. Mandatory sentences do not allow for the
hearing of one’s context.
- We know that many of those caught with
small amounts of crack cocaine are either carrying for their own use,
or to deal in small amounts in order to sustain their own addiction,
which is the root cause of their behavior. Indeed, substance abuse
treatment will bring about restoration of the individual and the
community to which they return, while long, harsh sentences do more to
create criminality, which carries tremendous negative consequences for
the awaiting community.
For
these reasons, there is widespread support among faith communities for
equalization of the current sentencing disparity between crack and
powder cocaine. Incarcerated individuals, their families, and the
communities to which they will return need and deserve a criminal
justice system that is indeed a means of healing for
society.
Bill Mefford is the
Director of Civil and Human Rights for the General Board of Church and
Society at The United Methodist Church. For more information on how your
faith group can be a part of the Faith in Action Criminal Justice Reform
Working Group at the grassroots or national level, email Bill
at bmefford@UMC-GBCS.ORG.
 |
|