OhOn May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer during an arrest in Minneapolis. The incident sparked the largest national protest in more than 50 years. Some groups have demanded the abolition of the police, often with renewed accusations that the U.S. criminal justice system is inherently racist.
In some circles, there have been calls to “defund the police.” In others, there were exhortations to “Back the Blue.” Amid a whirlwind of competing claims about bias and brutality, most people were simply wondering how to find the facts, what reform should look like, and whether systemic justice could ever be achieved.
Even if passions have calmed in recent months, the conversation remains as important as ever. And we now have the blessing of two books written by criminal justice scholars, both of which seek to bear faithful Christian witness.
Daniel Reinhardt, a seminary professor who worked in the police force for 24 years, is the author of Rethinking Policing: An Officer’s Confession and a Path to Reform. And Matthew T. Martens, a criminal law attorney, wrote Reforming criminal justice: a Christian proposal. Both intentionally seek to apply biblical wisdom to their callings.
A.think the police argues that police culture itself leads to abuse on the streets. Reinhardt is generous to his former colleagues and to current critiques of the police, from movements like Black Lives Matter to books like The new Jim Crow And Driving while black. He is an effective witness to police culture both in its shortcomings and in its potential.
At its most accomplished, the book’s argument simply connects the dots between the history and hierarchical structure of policing, the “toxic leadership” introduced into the system, and the biased law enforcement models that drive it. result. Reinhardt encourages police officers and police departments to “think about how they have negatively influenced” communities, especially minority communities.
Reinhardt advocates a “servant-shepherd” model of leadership defined by four fundamental principles: leaders are, above all, followers; police chiefs become one with the community of officers they command; authority and power must be used judiciously and kindly; and the main goal of everyone involved is to ensure justice and peace.
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Reinhardt applies these principles to both the internal culture of police departments and the conduct of officers on the job in their communities. Within the leadership ranks, he sees trends of “social distancing, dehumanization and abuse of power.” Among the consequences, he says, are estrangement between police officers and their communities, distrust of the people police are sworn to protect, and mistreatment of criminal suspects.
The book highlights various fault lines between the police and the public, highlighting a range of everyday realities that contribute to a dysfunctional culture. For example, Reinhardt says dangerous aspects of the job, such as the high-pressure operations of SWAT teams, tend to erode officers’ compassion.
Additionally, it describes ministerial practices that run counter to the respectful treatment of image bearers, such as zero-tolerance approaches to street crime. In all of this, Reinhardt never deplores the difficulties of the profession or the lack of understanding of the communities. His criticism looks inward without blaming others.
I am not convinced, however, that a servant and shepherd model should govern police work in all respects. Law enforcement actions are intended to be impersonal and impartial, even though policing is an inevitably social task. Reinhardt struggles with this tension, in part because he sees both “social distancing” and “impersonal enforcement” as causes of dehumanization, racial prejudice, and abuse. But while objectivity is certainly no guarantee of equal justice, the objective application of laws does not necessarily lead to the results that Reinhardt deplores.
By criticizing the utilitarian nature of police culture, Reinhardt demonstrates how officers circumvent the rules relating to the protection of suspects because they “handicap” repressive measures. Yet he errs in accusing noble ends themselves of incentivizing rule-breaking. He blames the “ethics of law enforcement” for undermining community-oriented policing and fostering systemic racism. Which leads us to ask: what is the primary role of the police, if not law enforcement?
Similarly, Reinhardt recalls working in a high school overrun with violence and enforcing a zero-tolerance arrest policy that ultimately harmed the futures of many black students. He blames an “unquestioned belief in the ethic of repression” that police culture has instilled.
It is clear from his example, however, that the school’s biggest problem was its zero-tolerance arrest policy, with its blindness to context and other mitigating factors, rather than a non-standard “enforcement ethic.” examined by the police. In an environment where, as Reinhardt puts it, “teachers were under attack” and “cafeteria fights” were breaking out daily, the school was most in need of resolute enforcement.
Reinhardt’s lack of confidence in the central mission of civil authority undermines his approach to reform. Throughout the book, the ideals of peacekeeping, crime prevention, and community support supersede the duties of repression and punishment. In the servant-shepherd model, as Reinhardt describes it, police officers are more like pastors.
At first glance, this may seem indisputable. But the tendency of Christians to offer “loving” solutions without considering God-ordained contexts of love—like role-specific callings and duties—can actually be harmful. At the very least, reconceiving the police as a “provider” could enable a dangerous overreach of state authority. As Reinhardt himself says: “There are practically no limits to this function. »
LLike Reinhardt, Martens brings a wealth of biblical knowledge to a field he knows well. In Reforming criminal justicehe argues that God demonstrates his love for the community – including victims, suspects, and perpetrators – through the application of the law, which sometimes involves bearing the “sword” invoked by Paul (Rom. 13:4 ).
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Martens begins by laying out the theological foundations of criminal justice, including the issue of execution, its relationship to justice and love, and the duties of those who resort to violence in the name of the state. He offers “a Christian ethic of criminal justice by which we can measure our criminal justice system, or any criminal justice system.” And he bases his work on ancient and contemporary sources on justice and punishment, from Augustine and Aquinas to Nicholas Wolterstorff and Oliver O’Donovan.
Martens then examines how the criminal justice system has operated throughout American history. His story, which begins with the Declaration of Independence and the consecration of fundamental rights, highlights the role of slavery in denying black people the benefits of American citizenship. It describes the impossibility of black people getting a fair trial, citing their exclusion from juries and other methods of disenfranchisement. And it covers the “weaponization of criminal justice against black people” after the Civil War, as evidenced by Jim Crow laws, lynchings without prosecution, and other abuses.
In analyzing the contemporary criminal landscape, Martens does not shy away from the implications of long-standing systemic injustices and addresses their disproportionate cost to poor and non-white Americans. He admits that he felt compelled to write because of “the series of deaths of black children and men, often at the hands of the police.” Elsewhere he states that Reforming criminal justice is “not a book about race, but race cannot be avoided in an honest conversation about criminal justice in America.”
Martens’ assessment is refreshingly non-partisan, with no focus other than seeking avenues for reform in light of current events and ancient wisdom. He argues that a criminal justice system best reflects God’s love and justice when it prioritizes “impartiality, accuracy, due process, accountability, and proportionality of punishment.”
The book deals candidly with many truths that are often too complex for today’s world of sound bites. It is not easy to make clear, for example, that the punishment of crime – even violent punishment inflicted by human beings empowered to bear the sword – can be rooted in God’s love for both evildoers and victims. But Martens does so skillfully, carefully considering the context and meaning of Romans 13. He also recognizes that civil government is “not the only institution that God has ordained to suppress wrongdoing,” noting that families, churches, employers and institutions have their own divine institutions. sanctioned roles to play.
DDespite its philosophical strengths, Martens’s book does not lack practical suggestions. He calls for accountability of public officials who exceed their God-given authority. His chapter on the practice of plea bargaining meticulously details the coercive leverage that prosecutors can exert against even innocent defendants. Other sections analyze flaws in the jury selection process, bias among judges, and the “cover-up epidemic” in the government’s handling of exculpatory evidence.
Throughout, Martens places our call to do justice (Micah 6:8) at the heart of the gospel. He responds to those who say, “Just preach the gospel” by urging them to actually TO DO gospel music. And he warns those with utopian aspirations to end injustice, asserting that perfect justice will only be assured when Christ returns to create all things new.
Human beings are created to witness, letting our light shine before others in our discipleship, evangelism, and work in the world. Witnesses testify. They show and tell what they have seen and what they know. Both Reinhardt and Martens should be commended for bearing witness through their lives and experiences, speaking hard-won Christian wisdom on some of the most confusing and controversial topics of the day.
Mike Schutt is Director of the Law School Fellows Program at the Christian Legal Society and Executive Director of Worldview Academy. He is a former lawyer and law professor and author of Redemptive law: the Christian vocation and the legal profession.
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