Suggestions for Becoming More Aware of Criminal Justice Issues
Suggestions for Becoming More Aware of Criminal Justice Issues
Many online editions of local newspapers have a section section marked “arrests” or “mug shots.” When you find that section, view the pictures and read the charges against persons arrested and booked into your local jail. Pray for each of them by name. Try to understand what “failure to appear” means considering the following questions. For instance, if your driver’s license has been suspended for a traffic violation or equipment malfunction and you have no other means of transportation, how would you get to a court appearance? If you were employed, what would you tell your boss was the reason you had to be off work on the day of your court appearance? Could you pay both a fine and the costs of repair to your vehicle?
Has anyone in your family served time? Ask members of your circle of friends or your Bible study group if anyone in their families have served time in jail or prison. It may be a sensitive conversation to begin. Ask how the family has been impacted by that experience. Discuss how we could help a family member or friend in trouble with the law.
Consider the following: The person I first befriended as a police officer was a deacon in the local Baptist church and taught a boys’ Sunday School class. He worked the midnight shift on the San Antonio Police Department. He told me that on Saturday nights he patrolled bars and strip clubs and other all-night businesses, arrested prostitutes and drug dealers, and was otherwise exposed to some of the social conditions most members of his church were unaware of. He said that sometimes when he completed his Saturday night shift, changed clothes and prepared to go to church and teach Sunday School, the transition was almost too much for him. He found it difficult to immediately shift from one role to the next. He never talked about his work experiences while in church. How can we minister better to police officers?
Imagine yourself at age 24 having just completed a 3-year term in a state prison for drug offenses related to your substance addictions as a teenager. While in prison you successfully completed substance abuse treatment, renewed your commitment to Jesus, completed high school, and otherwise reformed your life. You are now free. Job applications ask if you have a criminal record, which of course you do, and employers are loathe to hire you. Your mother and children have been living in public housing while you were incarcerated, but if you move in with her you must check the box on the housing form which asks if you are a “convicted felon.” You are, and the rules forbid you living there. Therefore if you try to live with your mother and family in the public housing, they will be evicted with no other place to live. What would you do? How could your church help a situation like this?
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