Building on the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’s historic address to Congress last September, over 120 alumni of Jesuit law schools delivered a letter on Sept. 21 to Congressional leadership and the offices of Jesuit-educated members of Congress, calling for passage of bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation. The signatories noted deficiencies in the current system, including disproportionate sentences as a result of mandatory minimums, individuals returning from jail and prison inadequately prepared to re-enter society and the nation’s reliance on the justice system to respond to problems of drug addiction, poverty, mental illness and joblessness. The United States currently represents 5 percent of the global population but 25 percent of the total global prison population.
Demand for Justice
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
A portion of a new interview with Pope Francis will air tonight on the “CBS Evening News” at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, according to a release from the CBS News Communications office.
A Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, by Father Terrance Klein
The reflections of Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., convinced me that Pope Francis' reframing of the scope and meaning of synods will have staying power, because it opens up a new model for the church.
During his general audience, Pope Francis reminded his listeners of the importance of the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. Engaging the crowd by having them recite the virtues aloud, Francis said that theological virtues animate our everyday actions toward the good.