A Statement of People of Faith on the Transformation of the Illinois Criminal Justice System

As people of faith, we are committed to the transformation of the causes and impact of crime in our communities and the transformation of our criminal justice system. The reality of the United States system of criminal justice often stands in stark contrast to the shared and deeply held values of our diverse religious traditions and our shared civic traditions of democracy.

Our faith traditions together with our best civic traditions affirm:

• That all persons are of inherent worth and dignity and deserve humane and compassionate treatment, either when they are victims of crime or when they violate the most solemn and fundamental laws of the community;
• That the violation of the community's laws injures not only persons — fundamentally, the victims of crime, as well as offenders - but threatens and harms the community as a whole;
• That people who do harm must be held accountable for their actions, and that the larger goal must always be, wherever possible, restoring and healing of the victims (many of whom are unseen or unknown), the offenders, and the communities of which they are a part;
• That accountability is applicable both to offenders for their violations of law and to those entrusted by our communities to enforce the law and protect the innocent; the administration of justice is both a sacred and civic trust;
• That both human error and institutional shortcomings preclude the penalty of death for offenders following trial and conviction.

Similarly, our democracy depends on an understanding that all who constitute "we the people" have worth as individuals and as a union, that violations of that inherent value demand reasonable and just accountability, and that true justice will only be served by strongly restoring the worth that has been diminished in individuals and by reconstituting the communities that have been fractured, thus reducing the cycles of violence that lead to more victimization.

Evidence abounds that our current system and administration of criminal justice is profoundly flawed. The US jail and prison population has quintupled since 1972, resulting in the world's highest incarceration rate. Two-thirds of the 700,000 who annually leave prison nationwide will be rearrested, and over half of them will return to prison within three years. The constitutional protection of a fair and speedy trial is often jeopardized by an overburdened court system. We have built and support a massive prison industry that remains largely unsuccessful at rehabilitating prisoners and preparing them for reintegration back into their families and communities. This system has further marginalized and stigmatized a large class of individuals that are predominantly African-American and Latino, low-income and poorly educated. Current practices have not made our communities safer, and numerous surveys indicate that a majority of registered voters want significant reforms to our criminal justice system. A focus on restorative justice and rehabilitation in both adult and juvenile justice systems must predominate.

Underpinning this system is a legal and court structure focused on what law was broken, who broke it and how they will be punished. This retributive system that views crime solely as an offense against the state fails to address the precipitants of crime and marginalizes victims of crime, their families and the communities in which they live. It requires that offenders serve time instead of taking responsibility for their actions, making things right with those they harmed, and preparing themselves for successful lives upon release. It creates no process or opportunity for all affected to come together to address problems. It often does not give victims what they need the most which is a fair and just verdict that serves the interest of public safety and requires offenders to take responsibility, wherever possible, for crimes committed.

In contrast, as people of faith, we envision a justice system rooted in the principles of prevention, transformation, rehabilitation, restoration and healing that takes into account the needs of victims, offenders, and the communities from which they come. Such a system would hold offenders accountable while providing opportunities for them to repair, where possible, harm that they have caused to their victims and communities and would provide assistance to change harmful personal behavior. The goal of this system is the improved physical, mental, emotional and financial health of victims, offenders and their families, and improved life skills, educational opportunities, career development, and physical, emotional and spiritual health of offenders. This approach involves victims, offenders, and entire communities in affirming together community norms, creating opportunities for offenders to make amends and addressing underlying community conditions that may contribute to illegal behavior.

We, therefore, request that the State of Illinois, and our elected and appointed officials, aggressively pursue the transformation of our criminal justice system based on the following objectives:

• Acknowledge and seriously address the profound harm to victims of crime and the need for healing and support of those victimized by criminal behavior at all points of contact with the criminal justice system.
• Invest in interventions known to reduce crime and violence.
• Ensure that consideration be given to the children and families of those being arrested, detained, adjudicated and imprisoned.
• Provide community-based, treatment-oriented alternatives to incarceration where possible or appropriate that address the underlying factors of criminal behavior.
• Focus incarceration on making inmates whole, through comprehensive treatment, education and skill-building opportunities.
• Maximize restoration to community for individuals with criminal records by easing re-entry with removal of the barriers to appropriate employment, education and housing

We, therefore, as diverse religious communities and people working together commit to assume a lead role in transforming our criminal justice system by together:

• Working in coalition to initiate, advance and monitor a reform agenda.
• Examining the scope, depth, cost and performance of our criminal justice system and community response to crime.
• Formulating programs and strategies that will transform all the component parts of the criminal justice system through the central lens of restoring human life and communities.
• Promoting proposals for reform in religious and civic organizations and in the media.
• Mobilizing constituents for education and advocacy that will bring about foundational reform.

We commit ourselves and our communities with shared vision and values toward the task of transforming not just the criminal justice system but also our inclusive common life. Our system of criminal justice in Illinois and the United States must move away from an exclusive focus on punishment, penalty, and revenge. We have failed to account for the great cost of setting aside what has been and should again be the central, pervasive, and interconnected purpose of our system of criminal justice: the restoration, healing and transformation of victims of crime, offenders, and the communities where they live.

To find out more about how you and your congregation can help to transform the Illinois criminal justice system, please visit www.communityrenewalsociety.org, or call (312) 427-4830. The Faith Summit for Criminal Justice Reform is an initiative of Illinois faith communities and the Civic Action Network of the Community Renewal Society.