Lumen Christi Institute

This event is co-sponsored by the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, the Boston College Law School, the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Kolbe House Jail Ministry, St. Paul's Catholic University Center, the Collegium Institute's Legal Humanities Project, the National Center for the Laity, America Media, and Oxford University Press.

There is growing bipartisan awareness of the need to reform the American criminal justice system. Solutions have been sought for over-criminalization, over-incarceration, and the disproportionate effect of the system upon minority communities. Many have observed a difference between European models of criminal justice, such as that in Germany, and the unique harshness of their American counterpart.

Yet the answer to the ongoing crisis may lie beyond mere policy changes. Professor Andrew Skotnicki of Manhattan College argues that the problems inherent to our criminal justice system are rooted in misguided theology and anthropology. Join Professor Skotnicki and Cecelia Klingele (University of Wisconsin Law School) for their discussion of Skotnicki’s book, Conversion and the Rehabilitation of the Penal System (Oxford University Press, 2019), moderated by Cook County Judge Tom Donnelly. They will consider the origins of the current criminal justice system, the challenges that it faces, and the resources from the Catholic tradition that may offer a way forward. 

This event is part of the Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network, a new initiative of the Lumen Christi Institute.