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“Ending Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration,” with Dr. Anthony Bradley

May 26th, 2020 | 2 min read

By Caleb Wait

Justice issues are ever prevalent in modern society. Moreover, conversations around justice are often co-opted by overly simplistic solutions. Dr. Anthony Bradley (Professor of Religious Studies at The King’s College in New York City and Research Fellow at the Acton Institute) joins Matt and Derek to get into the details of some of these issues and to share his insights from his book, Ending Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration: Hope from Civil Society. Listen in to hear questions on the flaws in the New Jim Crow thesis, what factor race plays in criminalization, and how the church should think theologically about its own task with respect to prison reform.

Timestamps:

Leaving Twitter and social media during football season [0:00 – 5:09]

Dr. Bradley’s impetus behind criminal justice research [5:09 – 9:09]

The flaws in the New Jim Crow thesis [9:09 – 13:15]

What factor does race play in criminalization? [13:15 – 20:45]

What is overly punitive criminalization? [20:45 – 28:18]

The timeline of overcriminalization and why it’s now being looked at more stringently [28:18 – 36:05]

How should the church theologically understand its own task with respect to prison reform? [36:05 – 45:53]

 

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Finally, as always, follow DerekAndrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Motte for his sound editing work. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.