The restorative justice process used to rehabilitate criminal offenders and bring healing to victims also can be used to foster forgiveness and compassion within families and faith communities, an expert on the practice said. “When you have the experience of…
Being holistically ‘pro-life’ is about more than abortion, Vineyard pastor says
Many evangelicals oppose abortion while supporting the death penalty because churches have failed to teach what it means to be holistically pro-life, Ohio minister Rich Nathan said during a webinar hosted by Equal Justice USA. Nathan is the founding pastor…
One Parish One Prisoner draws inspiration from Lazarus
Antonio Gomez was stunned when members of a Seattle church he didn’t know cared for his family while he was in prison and supported him when immigration agents detained him moments after his 2022 release. Stepping so quickly from incarceration…
Oklahoma plans to execute a man who didn’t commit a murder
Death penalty opponents are bracing for the anticipated execution of an Oklahoma man who even the state acknowledges did not kill anyone. Tremane Wood has been on Oklahoma’s Death Row since 2004 for participating in a robbery-turned-homicide in which the…
To combat the death penalty, educate yourself, activist urges
Christians opposed to the death penalty but unsure how to effectively challenge it can begin by educating themselves about the practice, civil rights activist Joia Erin Thornton said during a webinar hosted by Equal Justice USA. As founder and executive…
Americans are not safer because of failed prison policies, but there is a better way, speakers urge
The nation’s criminal legal system fails to lower crime rates or bring healing to victims and communities because its chief aim is retaliation instead of restoration, according to an expert on alternatives to mass incarceration. Courts, jails and prisons utilize…
Testimony of exonerees is best way to sway opinion on death penalty
Death row exonerees represent some of the most powerful arguments against capital punishment, especially for legislators and others who have no idea how the U.S. death penalty system works, Death Row survivor Herman Lindsey said. “You’re able to reach people…
Evangelical leaders condemn DeSantis for politicizing state executions
The presidential aspirations of Gov. Ron DeSantis have exacerbated the challenges facing Florida’s Death Row inmates and the activists trying to help them, said one of the state’s leading opponents of capital punishment. “Florida is a very dark place for…
Awareness should lead to action, author urges churches
Delving into the nitty gritty of faith-based community development and restorative justice work is neither a political expression nor a ministry distraction for the church, author and activist Michelle Ferrigno Warren said. They are instead forms of biblically informed Christian…