Hello,

How do you understand the Old Testament? 

Well, I’ve done some reading and thinking, and I have some more reflections. What follows is less of what I believe is empirical analysis, as I normally try to do with contemporary issues, but conclusions I have come to based off my personal relationship with my faith. I’m not sure what is “with” Catholic teaching and what isn’t, but I think nevertheless reflecting on matters of your faith is a healthy thing to do. 

There seems to be a great contradiction between the Old and New Testaments, specifically relating to justice. Consider what you know from the Old Testament about justice and the law. Leviticus contains a lot of information about legal practices passed down from God to Moses. In its laws, I find retribution deeply rooted, with ideas such as the death penalty being put forth as the ideal law.

Remember that DoJ fact sheet on deterrence we read a while ago? Here’s a reminder of one of the research conclusions from over there: “Increasing the severity of punishment does little to deter crime.” So right off the bat, I will say that upping some forms of theft to felonies will likely do little to deter theft in CA. Shoplifting rose almost 40% in 2023 and is 30% higher than it was in 2019. The data is clear--rising crime rates since the pandemic is not a media creation for CA. This is a real problem that the government needs to address; I wonder if the method they used was a shortsighted response. Increasing the severity of a crime seems like it would help the problem, but, in reality, something like trying to increase police effectiveness in catching criminals would likely be just as (if not more) effective without charging offenders with felonies and making their reintegration into society even harder.

In CA, Proposition 36 just passed on the ballot and it wasn’t really close---about 70% to 30%. The one sentence summary from California’s voter guide reads that Prop 36 “Allows felony charges for possessing certain drugs and for thefts under $950, if defendant has two prior drug or theft convictions.” There were also some pro and con arguments that I thought were interesting. Here they are.

Now, as prison chaplain, we want to bring them “inner peace.” An interesting goal, and I wonder if this person is just really talking about something like death row inmates, but they really make it seem like these prisoners are so far gone, the only thing we can do is assure them that if they repent they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. That seems hopeless. 

Ok, so this week I was going to talk about prison chaplains but now I just want to share a quote I found while researching prison chaplaincy from an inter-faith (seemingly rooted in Buddhism though) ministry organization called Chaplain of the Heart:

Racial profiling is another important factor when learning about injustices within the police system, particularly relating to police brutality. Racial profiling is when law enforcement targets specific people based on their ethnic, religious, or cultural groups (usually minorities). Racial profiling occurs because law enforcement individuals might associate a type of crime with an ethnic group, thus leading to them targeting that ethnicity. This happens most frequently with traffic stops and evidence may or may not confirm police suspicions when targeting a certain race.

One particular source of criticism that many say leads to the seemingly widespread police brutality in the US today is the doctrine of qualified immunity. Essentially, qualified immunity protects law enforcement from all but clear infringements of constitutional rights. Part of the requirements for prosecuting an officer under this doctrine is that they were aware that their actions violated a law. Thus, even in the case of an injustice actually being committed, there is still a chance the courts will not view it as one.

Police brutality, in the public eye, seems to be at the forefront of social justice issues in the US. Cases of brutality and racial profiling gain awareness rapidly through social media. Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 were, if self-reporting protest participation was accurate, the largest protest movement in the history of our country. 

We’ve learned about deterrence when talking about justice and the death penalty specifically, but I found a useful article from the DOJ about deterrence. I thought it would be helpful to share some facts I found interesting.