Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Pope Francis addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington Sept. 24. (CNS photo/Joshua Roberts)

Building on the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’s historic address to Congress last September, over 120 alumni of Jesuit law schools delivered a letter on Sept. 21 to Congressional leadership and the offices of Jesuit-educated members of Congress, calling for passage of bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation. The signatories noted deficiencies in the current system, including disproportionate sentences as a result of mandatory minimums, individuals returning from jail and prison inadequately prepared to re-enter society and the nation’s reliance on the justice system to respond to problems of drug addiction, poverty, mental illness and joblessness. The United States currently represents 5 percent of the global population but 25 percent of the total global prison population.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

After an early morning attack on the Holy Family Church in Gaza, Pope Leo XIV called for an immediate ceasefire, dialogue and peace in the region.
Something essential is lost when generations remain siloed at church.
Juan MercedJuly 17, 2025
You’ve got a 401K. But do you have a spiritual retirement plan?
Myles N. SheehanJuly 17, 2025
Syrian security forces secure the area near St. Joseph Church in the Bab-Sharqi neighborhood of Damascus, Syria June 23, 2025, following the June 22 suicide bombing at Mar Elias Church. (OSV News photo/Firas Makdesi, Reuters)
A brief opening to shore up progress toward stability in Syria unfortunately coincides with Trump administration decisions to sharply curtail humanitarian and development assistance and to terminate the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Kevin ClarkeJuly 17, 2025