Catholic
Bishops
Call
for
Broad
Criminal
Justice
Reforms
11/17/00
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops, meeting this week in Washington, DC, issued a call for sweeping reforms in the nation's criminal justice system. The 290 American bishops endorsed a statement on crime issues titled "Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice." The entire statement is available online at http://www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/criminal.htm. Citing Catholic doctrine, the bishops called for a greater commitment to rehabilitate offenders as well as greater concern for the well-being of crime victims. In its broadest form, the statement says the Church "will not tolerate the crime and violence that threatens the lives and dignity of our sisters and brothers, and we will not give up on those who have lost their way. We seek both justice and mercy." They also reaffirmed their opposition to the death penalty. The bishops' statement contains a long list of policy prescriptions including an end to "simplistic solutions" such as mandatory minimum sentencing and "three strikes" laws, an insistence that punishment have a constructive and rehabilitative purpose, treatment for addicted and mentally ill offenders, and a demand that crime prevention and poverty reduction be seriously confronted. While noting at various points the role of drug policy as an exacerbating factor, the bishops declined to directly address the issue of drug law reform. Instead, they concentrated on calls for treatment and more humane sentencing for drug offenders. In a prepared statement before the conference, Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, who chaired a criminal justice study committee for the bishops, said they consulted chaplains, judges, victims and their advocates, wardens, ex-offenders and other experts. "Despite their different perspectives, they all agree that the current system is in need of a fresh approach," said Mahony, "one that offers real rehabilitation for offenders, takes seriously the concerns of victims and restores communities affected by crime." He later told the New York Times, "I see this as a major initiative that's going to engage us pastorally for years to come." Indeed, the bishops' call includes detailed steps that parishes and dioceses should take to improve public safety, assist prisoners and their families, and help crime victims. In other business at the conference, the bishops adopted positions reaffirming their opposition to abortion, calling for better treatment of immigrants, and urging an end to the bloody, decades-long civil war in Sudan.
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