Book Review: Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal

The trial of Richard Allen, the man accused of murdering two young girls in Delphi, Indiana is set to begin in October. For those following the case, the court proceedings themselves have generated as much discussion as the brutal crime.

Many people have predictably fallen into one of two camps: those who have already adjudged Allen guilty, and those who believe Allen is innocent. Some who believe Allen is guilty argue that advocating for a fair trial for Allen is insulting to the families of the victims.

This is a high-profile case, and people on both sides have strong opinions. But as a criminal defense practitioner, the criticisms lodged against those of us focused on due process for the defendant are not new. I hear them all the time.

Recently, though, I was surprised when I was asked, “How can you sleep at night when you represent those people?” The question itself did not surprise me. It was the person who asked it: a fellow Christian.

At the time, I had just started reading Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal by Matthew T. Martens. Martens argues that there are two roadblocks to a meaningful discussion about justice: (1) we are not well-informed about how the system actually operates; and (2) we fail to consider how our system compares to the Biblical concept of justice.

Martens’ book is divided into two sections. The first section explains the Biblical concept of justice and what framework Christians should use to evaluate whether our system is just. The second section of the book describes how the criminal justice system actually operates today and whether it meets the Biblical standard of justice.

Martens begins by demonstrating that the root of Biblical justice is love. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.” Martens words it differently: “The state’s use of physical force can be moral when its use is both motivated and restrained by the principle of neighborly love.” In other words, a just system loves victims by protecting them and obtaining justice on their behalf. And it loves wrongdoers by using fear of punishment to restrain them from committing evil.

Martens identifies the five pillars of Biblical justice: accuracy, due process, accountability, impartiality, and proportionality. After explaining each of these pillars in more detail, Martens then turns to our current system of justice. He details its history, how we go about defining what is criminal, the outsized role guilty pleas play, the process of jury selection, sentencing considerations, etc. For each topic, Martens provides a background and then evaluates that aspect of the justice system to determine whether the system upholds the five pillars of Biblical justice. [SPOILER ALERT: WE FAIL IN NEARLY EVERY CATEGORY.]

Martens concludes by giving us four ways we can change the system to be more Biblically just: think differently about the system; speak differently to others about Biblical justice; work differently if you are in the system; and vote differently, both in elections and if seated on a jury.

Martens leaves us with one final question to ponder: is our criminal justice system the system you would design if you did not know ahead of time which neighbor (victim or accused) you would be? My answer? No, not as the system currently operates. But how do I sleep well at night? Because I try, to the best of my ability, to make it a system I would design.