On Wednesday, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops released a 38-page report demanding sweeping changes in the nation’s criminal justice system, in particular the treatment of drug users and the growing prison population.
“The current trend of more prisons and more executions, with too little education and drug treatment, does not truly reflect Christian values and will not really leave our communities safer,” the bishops said. The bishops wrote,
“At least one third of inmates are jailed for drug-related crimes. Many of them would likely benefit from alternatives to incarceration. Drug courts…are one innovation that seems to offer great promise and should be encouraged. Persons suffering from chemical dependency should have access to the treatment that could free them and their families from the slavery of addiction, and free the rest of us from the crimes they commit to support this addiction”
For the past few years Gen. McCaffrey has included in his anti-drug mantra the call for churches and the spiritual community to speak to drug abuse,” said Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director. “It appears that an important constituency has endorsed an ending of the status quo. Is McCaffrey listening?”
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director at (202) 483-8751 or Scott Colvin NORML Publications Director at (202) 483-5500. To read the full report please visit www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/criminal.htm
