FAITH COMMUNITIES CALL
FOR JUSTICE:

This "magna carta" for reform of criminal justice in New York State will be dedicated at a gala interfaith ceremony on April 28, 2002 in the Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon. You are cordially invited to participate in this milestone event.

All clergy and professional religious, of all faiths, are invited to sign this proclamation. Readers are urged to join this campaign and enlist the support of every clerical and professionally religious person in every religious community in New York State. All bishops, ministers, priests, rabbis, imams, deacons, elders, brothers, presbyters, nuns, monks, abbots, etc. are urged to print out and sign this proclamation. Ask your religious friends and acquaintances to sign the document. Signed statements should be returned to the address on the proclamation.

A moment of truth is at hand for criminal justice in New York State. Society has created a legal system that heaps injustice on the most vulnerable segments of our population; the poor, the powerless, the marginalized, and racial minorities. Recognizing our shared responsibility for this system, we, as faith communities, believe we must take action now to repair that system. Our system isn’t working—for society, for victims, for the incarcerated, for police, for corrections professionals, for ex-offenders, for families, for anyone. As people of faith, part of one human family, we are called to speak the truth in love, to point out the failings of the present criminal justice system, to identify injustice, and to envision a system of justice that is consistent with the central tenets of our faith, for everyone.

The first element of justice is that actions have consequences. We acknowledge that society, through the state, has a responsibility to protect its citizens by investigating crime, prosecuting those who have committed such acts, and meting out appropriate consequences, including incarceration.

The second element of justice lies in acknowledging the God-given capacity for redemption that lives in the heart of every human being. We reject demonizing the incarcerated and applying the permanent label of criminal to them. We are all God’s creation. We all make mistakes and we all have the capacity to change our lives.

The third element and main focus of justice must be rehabilitation. It cannot be punishment as it is now. Since all people have the capacity for redemption, then the main objective of the prison system must be to awaken that capacity through rehabilitative programs, not to deaden it by brutalization and isolation. Revenge has no place in the criminal justice system.

The fourth element of justice is responsibility and repentance. Those who have committed crimes must take personal responsibility for their actions. As one group of prisoners said:

"We openly repent for the crimes we have committed and the people we have harmed, and we take full responsibility for our actions…We understand that many people are unwilling to forgive us for the choices we have made, but we are nevertheless compelled by faith to be compassionate to all."

The fifth element of justice is forgiveness and healing. We do not confuse forgiveness of the offender with acceptance of the crime. Our faith teaches us that offenders can have a change of heart and calls us to forgive the repentant. Those on whom the burden of forgiveness weighs the heaviest are the victims of crime. So our system must provide a meaningful role for the victims of crime so they can find healing, and ultimately, the ability to forgive.

The sixth element of justice is fairness. The rule of law must be applied fairly and equitably for all, regardless of race, class, gender, citizenship, or income level. The current system penalizes the poor more severely than the rich. It incarcerates people of color for acts it ignores in others. It allows racism and classism to flourish.

Measured by these elements of justice, which are grounded in the basic tenets of our faith, the criminal justice system in New York State is in moral crisis. As people of faith, we believe the government and its citizens must adopt the following principles for the criminal justice system.

The system must:

·
1. Apply the rule of law fairly, without regard to race, gender, citizenship, class, or income level. ·
2. Protect citizens from crime. ·
3. Provide victims of crime with a meaningful role and an effective way to address their need for healing and to forgive. ·
4. Make rehabilitation, not punishment, the highest priority. Provide programs which facilitate accepting responsibility, repentance and redemption--all critical steps necessary to learning to live as a constructive member of a community. ·
5. Provide the incarcerated with the education and job skills they need to become productive members of society when they leave prison so they will not return to crime. ·
6. Provide substance abuse and other mental health treatment to those who need it and for whom it would be more effective than incarceration. ·
7. Grant judges the latitude to tailor sentences to the circumstances of each crime rather than legislate unreasonably long or mandatory sentences. ·
8. Release incarcerated individuals who have demonstrated that they accept personal responsibility for their crimes and are ready to rejoin society. ·
9. Provide those who are released from prison with the support programs they need to make a successful transition from imprisonment to society. Ex-offenders must no longer be abandoned to the streets without shelter, skills, contacts, or resources.

To that end, we hereby dedicate ourselves to the following tasks:

·
• To apply the central tenets of our faith—the capacity for repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation, redemption, and compassion—to those who are employed by and incarcerated within the criminal justice system. ·
• To examine and expose the injustices of our criminal justice system. ·
• To speak the truth in our places of worship regarding the failures of our criminal justice system. ·
• To work for the creation of a criminal justice system that addresses the needs of the victims of crime. ·
• To support the rehabilitation of incarcerated men and women and diligently assist them in successfully returning to society. ·
• To actively oppose the racism and economic injustices in our society which lead to the incarceration of disproportionate numbers of people of color and the poor. ·
• To urge our political leaders, others in positions of power, our congregations, and all people of good will to heed our call for the creation of a fair and impartial criminal justice system.

We are prompted by the holy writings of our faith communities to love our neighbors, speak for the poor and the powerless, and courageously provide moral guidance. In that spirit, we are grateful for this opportunity to call for justice.

        Excessively Punitive            

• The U.S. incarceration rate is higher  than at any previous time and is 6 to 10 times the rate of Western European nations.
  
  
   Incarcerations per 100,000 population are:                       

  U.S.	699		France	90
  United Kingdom	125		Netherlands	90
  Spain	110		Italy	90
  Canada	110		Switzerland	85
  Germany	95		Japan	40

                                                                                       Marc Mauer, The Sentencing Project, 2001
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   "15 to Life," by Anthony Papa

•  Between 1998 and 2000, 54% of NYS prison suicides occurred in SHUs (widely used 'Special Housing Units,' with maximum isolation and minimum human contact) or 14 times the rate in the (larger) general inmate population.
  "Suicides High in Pison'Box'," Poughkeepsie Journal, December 16, 2001
   
• In 1980, 886 drug offenders were sent to state prison, 11% of the total commitments for the year. By 1999 the number of drug offenders sent to state prison had reached 8,520, 44.5% of the total.  In 1999 the number of violent offenders going to prison was 5,374, 28.1% of the total.
  The Correctional Association of New York, July 20, 2001. www.corrassoc.org/

  Excessively Costly

• In 1988, New York State spent twice as much on higher education as it did on prisons. In 1997, however, the state spent $100 million more on prisons than on higher education.
  Robert Gangi, Et Al., Correctional Association Of New York And The Justice Policy Institute, New York State Of Mind? Higher Education Vs. Prison Funding In The Empire State, 1988-1998 (1998)
   

• The annual costs for the New York State Department of Correctional Services rose from $450 million in 1982-83 to over 1.8 billion in 1998-99.
  Scott Christianson, "Balancing Justice in New York State; A Citizens Fact Book in Criminal Justice," The League of Women voters of New York State, 1999, p. 29
   
• The state prison's share of the General Fund has grown from 9.5% in 1982 to 24.4% in 1997.
  New York State Budget
   
• It cost the state about $2 billion to build new prisons to house drug offenders. The annual operating expense just for confining drug offenders comes to over $610 million per year.
   

• It costs about $32,000 to maintain a prisoner in a New York State prison for a year. By comparison, the cost of most outpatient drug treatment is about $2,700 to 4,500 per person per year. The cost of residential drug treatment is $17,000 to $21,000 per person per year.
  The Correctional Association of New York, July 20, 2001. www.corrassoc.org/
   

•  Unjust and Racially Biased

• FBI studies have show that whites make up the vast majority of people who consume drugs. There is also evidence that more than half of drug dealers are white. Yet, over 90% of the people in New York State Prisons for a drug offense are African-American or Latino.
  "Rockefeller Drug Law Reform," The Correctional Association of New York, October, 1997

  
  Missed Opportunities

• Studies have shown that alternatives to incarceration programs are more effective in reducing recidivism. However, many local officials complain that the timing and level of state funding often varies from year to year, lending instability to thes  e programs, whereas prisons have steadily continued to command larger and larger budgets.
  Scott Christianson, A Balancing Justice in New York State A Citizens' Fact Book in Criminal Justice, The League of Women Voters of New York State1999 p. 29
   

• A Rand Corp. study found that drug treatment reduces serious crime 15 times more than mandatory minimums and 10 times more than conventional sentences.
  J.P. Caulkins, C.P. Rydell, W. Schwabe, And J. Chiesa, "Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences: Throwing Away The Key Or The Taxpayer's Money?" Rand study MR827-DPRC, 1997
   

• Another Rand Corp. study concludes that drug treatment is seven times more effective in cutting cocaine demand than local enforcement.
  C. Peter Rydell & Susan S. Everingham, "Controlling Cocaine: Supply Versus Demand Program," A Joint Study By The Rand Corp., The Us Army And The Office Of National Drug Control Strategy.
   

• While 840,000 federal and state prisoners needed drug treatment in 1996, fewer than 150,000 received any care before being released.
  Joseph Califano, "Behind Bars: Substance Abuse And America's Prison Population," The National Center On Addiction & Substance Abuse At Columbia University, January 1998.
   

• A majority of state prisoners do not have a high school diploma.
  Joseph Califano, "Behind Bars: Substance Abuse And America's Prison Population," The National Center On Addiction & Substance Abuse At Columbia University, January 1998.
   

• An estimated 40% of state prisoners cannot read.
  Alton R. Waldon, Jr., "Unhealthy Choice," N.Y. State Senate Report, April 1996
   

• Despite these handicaps, prisoners have demonstrated the capacity to move from less than a sixth grade reading ability to the achievement of college degrees
   

• Quality education programs have consistently reduced recidivism by 16 to 62%.
  "The Impact of Correctional Education On Recidivism 1988-1994," Office Of Correctional Education, U.S. Dept. Of Education. Heidi L. Lawyer And Thomas D. Dertinger, "Back To School Or Back To Jail," ABA Criminal Justice, Winter 1993, P. 21
   

• The more education offenders receive, the lower their recidivism rates are.
  Mary Ellen Batiuk, "The State Of Post-Secondary Education In Ohio," Journal Of Correctional Education, Vol. 48, Issue 2, June 1997, Pp. 70-72.
   

• However, although evidence that inmates who receive educational training are less likely to return to prison, more than half of all state prison systems have reduced educational and vocational training since 1989.
  Joseph Califano, "Behind Bars: Substance Abuse And America's Prison Population," The National Center On Addiction & Substance Abuse At Columbia University, January 1998.
  
  
  Family Disruption
•  Since 1980, the number of women entering prisons in the U.S. has risen almost 400%, double the rate of men. Nearly 70% of the women committed to NYS prisons in 1999 were convicted of non-violent or non-coercive crimes. Over 50% of all women in NY prison are incarcerated for drug crimes.
  The Correctional Association of New York, July 20, 2001. www.corrassoc.org/
   

• Approximately 75% of the women prisoners in NY report that they are mothers. In a 1998 survey, women in NY prisons reported having over 7,000 children.
  The Correctional Association of New York. www.corrassoc.org/
   

• Juveniles tried as adults are more likely to be rearrested, and their new offenses are more likely to be felonies as compared with children who are tried as juveniles.                               
  The Correctional Association of New York, July 20, 2001. www.corrassoc.org/

To return to the Justice Charter  click: Justice Charter

Faith Communities Call for Justice Steering Committee Members, July 25, 2001