Executive Summary. Criminal Justice Reform Policy Statement Westminster Presbyterian Church. Westminster Criminal Justice Reform Task Force Members

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1 Executive Summary Criminal Justice Reform Policy Statement Westminster Presbyterian Church Westminster Criminal Justice Reform Task Force Members Nancy Brasel, Taylor Edward Crouch, Kelley Jepsen, Bridget Letnes, Doug Mitchell (Clergy Liaison), Bill Linder-Scholer, Gwen Martin, Vivian Jenkins Nelsen, Sandy Wolfe Wood (Chair) Why are we addressing criminal justice reform? The answers we give to this question must inevitably reference the foundational, systemic injustices of mass incarceration. As former President Obama noted, the United States was 1 founded on the idea of liberty and justice for all, but we lead the world in incarceration rates. As noted in Ava Duvernay s eye-opening documentary, 13th, about the intersectionality of racism and the criminal justice system, the United States is home to five percent of the world s 2 population, but 25 percent of the world s prisoners. Equally serious as the issue demanding reform is the racially destructive aftermath of the War on Drugs the use of state power to incarcerate hundreds of thousands of poor, too often minority, men and increasingly women. In Minnesota, African Americans are imprisoned at over ten times 3 the rate of whites. The magnitude of the mass incarceration crisis and the racial biases of our current system of criminal justice combine to yield what Michelle Alexander has called the new 4 Jim Crow. We as members of the Westminster Presbyterian Church community cannot in good faith and conscience support the status quo any longer. Given these two foundational issues, the key aspects of the system of criminal justice must be re-examined and where appropriate, reformed: sentencing, correctional practices, and re-entry programs. As many have noted, momentum for positive change has been building across the United States and right here in Minnesota. A diverse and important set of stakeholders including political officials, law enforcement leaders, clergy, and lay advocates are calling for a major change in the trajectory of our justice system. Like some other states, Minnesota has continued to re-examine and make changes to its statewide system, most visibly in the areas of drug violation 5 6 sentencing reforms, restrictive housing policy (current nomenclature for solitary confinement), 1 Hudson, David (2015). President Obama: Our Criminal Justice System Isn t as Smart as It Should Be. White House: 2 Duvernay, Ava, Dir. (2016). 13th. 3 The Sentencing Project (2016). The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in State Prisons. 4 Jim Crow laws were enacted by the South in the 1880s that codified segregation and discrimination against blacks. 5 Lopez, Ricardo (2016). Minnesota House unanimously approves drug-sentencing reforms. Star Tribune: 1

2 and recidivism reduction. This issue is not new to Westminster. In 2014, criminal justice reform activist and Equal Justice Initiative Director Bryan Stevenson spoke at Westminster s Town Hall Forum, exposing racial bias in the criminal justice system. At the Forum In 2016, Princeton Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. took the conversation to a more personal level, challenging our predominantly white audience to see the privilege we enjoy with respect to criminal prosecution and access to safe, affordable housing. As a partner congregation in Beacon Interfaith, Westminster has played a key role in helping to build Great River Landing stable housing and job assistance for post-incarcerated persons. What are the biblical underpinnings for our efforts? Our approach to this criminal justice reform statement will be deeply rooted in the biblical traditions of justice and shalom. The theology of justice in our scripture is focused on restorative justice rather than retributive justice, and the goal is to serve the shalom/wholeness of the community. In its Resolution on Restorative Justice, the 214 th General Assembly (2002) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), states that, the fundamental orientation of the Old Testament scriptures is not to demand conformance to moral or religious law. The fundamental orientation is to sustain or where broken, to restore - the covenantal relationships and the covenantal bonds of the human 7 community before God. The Book of Genesis affirms that every human being is created in the image of God and that our worth is directly tied to our relationship to God and to each other. In the New Testament, Jesus explicitly rejects the retributive law of lex talionis, or an eye for an eye. Justice is not measured by what people deserve for their criminal behavior, but by how the harm is healed and relationships reestablished. One example of this is the parable of the Prodigal Son. The son breaks his relationship with the family but eventually attempts to return to his family in the role of servant since he has given up all rights to his position as son. But the father proves to be prodigal (extravagant) in forgiveness and love, and receives his lost son back into the fold. In our biblical tradition, God takes the initiative in trying to overcome evil with good God s justice is oriented not toward retribution but toward healing, reconciliation, the 8 restoration of relationships. 6 Mannix, Andy (2016). Minnesota joined national partnership to reduce solitary confinement. Star Tribune: 7 James F. Childress, Righteousness, Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics, James F. Childress and John McQuarrie, editors (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983, Duncan B. Forrester, Justice, Dictionary of Ethics, Theology and Society, Paul Barry Clarke and Andrew Linzey, editors 2

3 The 200th General Assembly Presbyterian Church USA charged that, Individual Presbyterians and the entities of the General Assembly...advocate a social order where compassion and justice characterize efforts toward those in the criminal justice system. Our goal with this task force is to fulfill that charge, living into our Christian call for, prayerful study, dialogue, and action. Why now? Despite progress across the country on reform of certain aspects of the criminal justice system and overall declining rates of incarceration, the incarceration rate in Minnesota has shown 9 modest increases and continues to show large racial disparities. In addition, the drug sentencing reform measures passed during the 2016 state legislative session have been muted by more 10 recent administrative rulings. A new level of uncertainty about the future trajectory of criminal justice system reform has also been introduced at the national level with the advent of a new administration. And finally, the real action for reform related to mass incarceration is a state issue simply because state prisons and jails hold more than 85% of the total number of incarcerated 11 individuals in the United States. In short, we Minnesotans have many reasons to continue our push for substantive criminal justice reform and to avoid losing the progress we ve made to date. What is our scope? Topics we will not include in our statement In our initial task force discussions of the criminal justice system and potential areas for a relevant and timely policy statement about desired reforms, we recognized that, to have an impactful document, we cannot do it all. So, we considered and decided not to include the following broad areas of practice within the overall system, although any one of them could have been the subject of this policy statement: Certain issues related to pre-incarceration phase: promising new community-policing practices; diversion programs; officer training for de-escalation, etc. Certain issues related to in-system (incarceration) phase: public vs. private prison issues; progress being made in educational and personal development (London: Routledge, 1996), Prison Policy Initiative (2012). Minnesota Profile : Prison Policy Initiative: 10 Chanen, David (2016). Minn. commission votes down drug-sentencing change. Star Tribune: 125/ 11 Rosenberg, Tina (2017). Even in Texas, Mass Imprisonment is Going Out of Style. The New York Times: 3

4 programs; issues related to persons with mental health issues and related complications for their treatment during incarceration and reentry; services for victims of a trauma-related event while incarcerated. Certain issues related to community relations: pre-existing restorative justice programs; community restoration activities; victim assistance programs; public perceptions of the criminal justice system. Issues related to juvenile justice : Because the issue of juvenile justice is vastly different legally, and deserves its own task force, we have largely left it out of the conversation for this project, while recognizing how important it is to the broader issue of criminal justice. Topics we will address with our statement This Task Force coalesced around the premise that the harm done by sentencing should never 12 be greater than the harm done [to society and the individual] by the crime. We will focus our policy recommendations in two areas, with special attention paid to underlying racial disparities: Reducing incarceration in responsible ways: Examp le o Sentencing reform: Using the principles of restorative justice as a guide, explore sentencing reform Improving the lives of people impacted by crime and incarceration: Examples o Solitary confinement (aka Restrictive Housing): Improve regulations of the use of o solitary confinement for in-prison punishment for individuals by the Minnesota Department of Correction without proper judicial and administrative oversight Post-release programs : Improve housing and job opportunities for people after their release (such as Great River Landing) 12 Dear President Trump: Here s How to Get Right on Crime Part 1, Pat Nolan, The Marshall Project, Jan. 17,

5 What is our process and timeline? 12/14 Introduction. Meet for an organizational meeting and introduction to the subject matter. Brainstorming. Establish work groups around identified priorities. 12/14-1/18 Explore topic. Read, do initial interviews. 1/18 Focus. Come back together and share information. Narrow topic. Discuss. 2/1-2/15 Write Executive Summary. This provides an overview of the subject and description of the policy-writing process. This goes to Social Justice and FIA for approval, and to the Session as a point of information. 2/15 Approve Executive Summary & break into the following smaller workgroups: Background: context for this statement Scheduling Listening Sessions and writing first draft of questions for those sessions Denominational statements Biblical underpinnings Recommendations Appendix 2/20 3/2 3/9 Submit Executive Summary to Social Justice for edits/approval Submit Executive Summary to FIA for edits/approval Forward Executive Summary to Session (FYI only) 2/15-3/8 Meet in workgroups & work online 3/8 Check in meeting 3/13-4/2 Listening sessions, group interviews with : Westminster s congregation Family members of incarcerated/formerly-incarcerated Those currently-incarcerated & formerly-incarcerated Department of Corrections officers Judges 5

6 3/22 Task Force Tour of Stillwater Prison 4/5 Regroup after listening sessions. Broad discussion of recommendations. 4/19 First statement draft 5/3 Second draft complete. Send to Session. 5/18 Session meeting 6