100 evangelical leaders sign declaration calling for criminal justice reform

Nearly 100 evangelical Christian leaders have affixed their signatures to a declaration that calls for restorative criminal justice reform in the U.S.

Prison Fellowship Ministries CEO James Ackerman, along with black, white and Hispanic officials of evangelical organizations, presented the "Justice Declaration" on Tuesday at a news conference at the National Press Club.

"The Church has both the unique ability and unparalleled capacity to confront the staggering crisis of crime and incarceration in America and to respond with restorative solutions for communities, victims, and individuals responsible for crime," the declaration reads, as reported by The Christian Post.

At the press conference, Ackerman noted that there are nearly 2.2 million Americans that are currently in prison, and there are 2.7 million children who have a parent in jail.

"Our country's overreliance on incarceration fails to make us safer or to restore people and communities who have been harmed," said Ackerman.

The Christian leaders at the press conference call for reforms to allow offenders in prison to receive treatment for underlying addictions or problems that could lead them back to prison once they are released. The leaders also called for more efforts to help inmates gain skills to overcome their issues and be successful after they serve their sentences.

Additionally, speakers at the event urged churches to minister to prisoners from their community, as well as their families who are also suffering from the incarceration.

"We as a church are not recognizing that disproportional punishment — that is, giving someone more than they deserve — is not consistent with our values and certainly will not help us advance the hope of a restorative justice system we all seek," Ackerman said.

The document was later presented to Republican leaders, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, in the hopes that it would gain bipartisan support.

During the conference, Dimas Salaberrios, president of the Concerts of Prayer Greater New York, narrated how a judge once pardoned him after church members vouched about his transformation after he escaped from authorities when he was a drug dealer.

"I'm living proof that when you grab somebody out of the pits of hell and you turn their life around that they can be great contributors to society," Salaberrios said, according to Religion News Service.

Other evangelical leaders present at the conference include Russell Moore, president of Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; Harry Jackson, presiding bishop at International Communion of Evangelical Churches; NAE President Leith Anderson; and the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

There were also other notable signatories who were not present at the declaration, such as Ravi Zacharias, founder of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries; Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Joni Eareckson Tada of Joni & Friends International Disability Center; Johnnie Moore, a member of Trump's evangelical advisory board; and Daniel Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.