The Criminal Justice Pendulum Has Swung Too Far

From 1987 to 2022, I spent countless thousands of hours ministering to men, women, and teens behind bars. Some of them were incarcerated in minimum-security juvenile institutions and others were being held in maximum-security federal penitentiaries. Altogether, I estimate that I met and ministered to more than 500,000 prisoners in almost 500 different correctional institutions in three countries on two continents.

I don’t regret for a minute the 35 years I spent in prison ministry because regardless of their crime, these inmates are eternal beings with an eternal soul. And whereas I firmly believe that they should pay the penalty for their earthly crimes including capital punishment for premeditated murder, I don’t want to see them spend eternity in hell.

Yes, Jesus cares about – and even died for – criminals. After all, He was crucified between two of them… and promised one of them that he would join Him in Paradise that very day.

Sharing God’s love and offering Christ’s forgiveness to murderers, rapists, and drug dealers was my calling… and one of the greatest privileges of my life. Like the Apostle Paul, I considered myself then and consider myself now to be the “chief of sinners.” And so, it was only natural to be able to identify with David Berkowitz, the notorious Son of Sam who I met several times, even though I’ve never gotten as much as a speeding ticket. You see, Jesus taught that looking at a woman with lust in your heart makes you an adulterer and being angry without cause makes you a murderer.

Guilty as charged.

Another reason why prison ministry is so important is because 95% of all prisoners are eventually released, but 70% are re-arrested within four years of their release… half of them for new crimes or parole violations they commit during their first two weeks of freedom. Such a revolving door is a complete waste of taxpayers’ money, especially when you consider that it costs (on average) more than $45,000 per year to incarcerate an inmate, and corrections is one of the fastest growing portions of the federal budget.

Ask yourself this question: if 95% of all inmates eventually get out, in what kind of condition do you want them returning to your community? Better to have a born-again ex-offender who becomes a contributing and law-abiding member of society than one who remains a career criminal, creating hurt and havoc wherever he goes.

I say all that to say this – I think the criminal justice pendulum has swung too far. Today, it appears as if criminals have more legal rights and recourse than their victims… and law enforcement officers have less physical and legal protection than the perps they arrest.

That, my friend, is wrong.

I, for one, am sick and tired of reading about a criminal with dozens of arrests – some of them for violent crimes – killing an innocent victim. Such was the case recently in New York City, where Officer (now Detective) Jonathan Diller was shot and killed during a traffic stop by a man with 21 prior arrests. The driver of the car, Lindy Jones, whose street name is “Killa”, had also been arrested 18 times for crimes including robbery, assault, and attempted murder.

Upon his arrest, Jones reportedly told police, “My name is Lindy Jones Jr. and I shoot people.” Ironically, Jones was out on $75,000 bail on a felony gun possession charge at the time of the shooting. Meanwhile, Guy Rivera, Diller’s cold-blooded murderer, was found with a shiv hidden inside his rectum in case he got arrested for the 22nd time.

Diller left behind a widow, Stephanie, and a one-year-old son, Ryan.

“How many more police officers and how many more families have to make the ultimate sacrifice before we start protecting them?” Stephanie Diller demanded to know during her powerful and heart-wrenching eulogy inside St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Massapequa.

“It’s been two years and two months since Detective Rivera and Detective Mora made the ultimate sacrifice — just like my husband Jonathan Diller. Dominque Rivera stood before all the elected officials present today pleading for change,” she said, referring to Jason Rivera, 22, and Wilbert Mora, 27, two NYPD officers who were murdered responding to a domestic violence call in East Harlem. “That change never came. And now my son will grow up without his father, and I will grow old without my husband. And his parents have to say goodbye to their child.”

According to the New York Post, assaults on police officers in the city are up 20% over the past 14 months and police stabbings have risen an astounding 72%.

Maria Silverman, 50, a Manhattan-based actor married to an NYPD lieutenant, said Diller’s was the eighth funeral she’d attended for an officer killed in the line of duty.

“I’m a lifelong Democrat, but the thing where I really differ from the party line is support for the police,” she said. “I think the way cops have been treated, 50,000 assaults a year, the maligning of their active service and sacrifice, is galling.”

I couldn’t agree more, Maria. So, stop voting for Democrat officeholders like New York Governor Kathleen Hochul who defended her record on crime by saying in a January interview with the Post’s editorial board, “I would say we have made great progress.” Or New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is prosecuting former Marine Daniel Penny for subduing a man threatening to kill other passengers on a subway train while, at the same time, pushing for reduced charges and cashless bail for career criminals like Guy Rivera and Lindy Jones.

Meanwhile, NYPD Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Hendry got it right. “This [Jones] is a career criminal who’s been arrested many, many times, and less than a year ago was arrested for an illegal firearm,” he said.

Folks, when push comes to shove, law-abiding citizens and the police officers who protect them should be given priority. Criminals made their bed and it’s time they laid in it.