Justice and Peace: A Radical Reconsideration of Public Safety – A Roundtable Discussion
8:00 PM ET | 7:00 PM CT | 5:00 PM PT
This zoom webinar event is free and open to the public. Presented by Seattle University and The Catholic Criminal Justice Reform Network.
Nearly fifty years ago, Pope St. Paul VI said, “If you want Peace, work for Justice.” Echoing his words, “No Justice, No Peace” has become the chant of protesters from Seattle to Atlanta seeking freedom not only from excessive use of force by police but also from unjust inequities across social and political structures. This roundtable presentation invites policing scholars in the fields of law, criminology, and theological ethics to explore how we might build peace on a foundation of justice. The interdisciplinary panel will address the future of public safety through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching.
Professor Herschella Conyers (University of Chicago Law School) bleakly assesses the current state of affairs: “[R]eform must begin … with an acknowledgement of the sad history and present conditions that have left the people totally alienated from the police, and afraid for their physical and emotional safety.” Similarly, Professor Michael Scott (Arizona State University) points to a possible source of guidance: “[I]nsofar as the Catholic Catechism represents a coherent and comprehensive moral code, and if one accepts the proposition that law, law enforcement and governance must, minimally, be moral, then the Catholic Catechism...merits being consulted on police reform.” “In dialogue with the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching, Professor Michael Jaycox (Seattle University) argues that “a credible Catholic commitment to pursuing the common good would have to include, at minimum, ensuring whatever social conditions are necessary for Black freedom from white violence.” To advance the common good, Professor Tobias Winright (St. Louis University) suggests that involving “the police in other community and social peacekeeping activities serves to contextualize, moderate and restrain that use of force, ensuring that it is a last resort.”
This panel serves as the keynote event for a three-day colloquium addressing Catholic perspectives on criminal justice reform. The workshops and public lectures include leading scholars examining how Catholic tradition and social thought might inform the challenges confronting today’s American criminal justice system.
