Source: (2003) Justice Reflections: Worldwide papers linking Christian Ideas with Matters of Justice. Issue 3 (JR 13-20).
Writing in the New Zealand context, Christopher Marshall states that fear of crime, “not rising crime rates,” is a primary reason for an exploding prison population in New Zealand. Coupled with the fear of crime and the trend of imprisoning more people for longer periods is the general perspective of the rest of the public that ignores or forgets the offender once incarcerated “out of sight, out of mind.” Marshall argues that this is not an option for Christians because of what the Bible conveys about prison, prisoners, Christian responsibilities to prisoners, justice, repentance, forgiveness, and restoration. Hence, in this article he sketches a Biblical grounding for a Christian position on prison, prisoners, and a Christian response to prison and prisoners.
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