Criminal Justice Working Group

Past Events and Actions

Conversation about the Criminal Justice System: Reform or Abolish?

In March 2022, we held an important conversation with St. Catherine University Prof. Nancy Heitzeg, PhD about her book Carceral Con and the challenges of Criminal Justice Reform vs. abolishment. Learn more about Carceral Con.

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Additional resources and actions from our community:

• Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ’s presentation “Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues” (February 27, 2020)
• CSJ Leadership Public Statement on the Death Penalty (October 26, 2020)
• “Attack on human dignity” – A Letter to the Editor of The Catholic Spirit from Sister Cathy Steffens, CSJ (December 17, 2020)

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Mission and Goals

The Criminal Justice Working Group advocates for policy which focuses on rehabilitation instead of retribution. The Criminal Justice Working Group views restorative justice as an essential component in the healing of both victim and offender.

Goals for 2021-2022:

The Criminal Justice Working Group will partner with other organizations to educate ourselves and others, and advocate for criminal justice reform which: 

• focuses on the care and dignity of those incarcerated, particularly women,
• addresses inequities which result in disproportionately high incarceration rates of BIPOC, and
• views restorative justice as an option for healing of victim, offender, and community.  

For more information contact Cheryl Peterson at cpeterson@csjstpaul.org and/or 651.690.7057.