Start here:
A Christian Case for Abolition, annotated slides: These annotated slides by Hannah Bowman (updated February 2021) offer an introduction to (some) abolitionist theology.
Abolition is the Embodiment of God’s Justice: article by Hannah Bowman in Sojourners
G-d is an Abolitionist: introduction to Community Safety for All Toolkit from SURJ-Faith
Abolition Curriculum: a curriculum on the abolition of policing from the Mennonite Church USA
Abolitionist Sanctuary: a movement supporting abolition centering Black churches, founded by Rev. Dr. Nikia Smith Robert, author of Penitence, Plantation and the Penitentiary
101 Explainer on “Defund the police” (June 2020)
The Fall of the Prison: Biblical Perspectives on Prison Abolition by Lee Griffith
Break Every Yoke: Religion, Justice, and the Abolition of Prisons by Vincent Lloyd and Joshua Dubler
Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores by Dominique DuBois Gilliard
Beyond Prisons: A New Interfaith Paradigm for our Failed Prison System by Laura Magnani and Harmon Wray
Educational Resources developed by or with Christians for Abolition:
Toolkits and Bible Studies:
What Does the Bible Say About Prisons and Justice?: a trifold brochure designed to be shared with incarcerated people. We encourage you to mail this to those on the inside or share it in programs you participate in inside prisons, if you’re allowed to. Includes a mailing address for incarcerated people to reach out to Christians for Abolition (Fall 2018)
Accountability Toolkit: This toolkit offers an introduction to non-punitive accountability and transformative justice, aimed at churches and Christian communities (edited November 2022)
Introduction to Abolitionist Theologies: a 4-session adult education curriculum for congregational use (PDF): This guide offers an introductory series of lessons on prison-abolitionist theology, grounded in specific New Testament texts. Each of the four sessions includes an introduction, a corporate devotional reading, a biblical text for study, and questions for discussion. (Updated February 2022)
Prisons in the Bible: a 10-part adult education Bible study curriculum (PDF): This Bible study offers lessons looking at a variety of stories about incarcerated people, law, and justice throughout the Biblical texts. This study would be appropriate for congregational use or for an inside/outside Bible study with incarcerated people (January 2020)
Healing Justice and the Paschal Mystery: a Holy Week devotional based on principles of restorative justice and healing justice (November 2019). The theoretical/theological framework behind this devotional is available in this essay, “Healing Justice and the Paschal Mystery: Theological Resources for Restorative Practice from the Liturgies of Holy Week” (updated April 2022).
A Christian Case for Abolition, annotated slides (PDF): These annotated slides offer an overview of abolitionist theology (Updated February 2021)
Essays:
A Christian Case for Prison Abolition: an essay laying out one Christian argument for abolishing prisons for Covenant/The Living Church (August 2018)
Abolition is the Embodiment of God’s Justice: article by Hannah Bowman in Sojourners (May 2021)
What Does the Bible Say About Prisons?: essay by Hannah Bowman in Sojourners (March 2022)
Marc Lamont Hill’s “We Still Here” Calls Christians to Action: book review essay by Hannah Bowman in National Catholic Reporter (May 2021)
COVID-19 and Prisons (Part 1 and Part 2): articles by Hannah Bowman for Covenant/The Living Church (May 2020)
What It’s Like to Serve Communion in Jail: essay by Hannah Bowman in Earth and Altar (June 2020)
Specificity and Moral Imagination: an essay by Hannah Bowman on specificity to help us develop radical moral imagination in The Hour (August 2020)
Podcasts:
Interviews with Hannah Bowman about Christian abolition and our work on the following podcasts:
- “A People’s Theology” podcast (April 2021)
- “Until We Get Canceled” podcast (February 2021)
- “Public Theologians” podcast (January 2021)
- “Messy Jesus Business” podcast (May 2020)
- Living Church podcast (May 2020), focusing on prison abolition in the time of COVID-19
- “Love Rinse Repeat” podcast (video, February 2020)
- “Theology and Socialism” podcast (Spring 2019)
- “Magnificast” podcast (March 2019)
To Set the Oppressed Free: Webinar on Christianity and Abolition from the Institute for Christian Socialism (panel includes Hannah Bowman) (September 2020)
101 Explainer on “Defund the police” (June 2020)
Christians for Abolition printable website content: includes all our website pages as well as “A Christian Case for Prison Abolition” and the curriculum, bibliography, and brochure here, in a single printable PDF to share with incarcerated folks or others (up to date as of July 2019)
Infographic to share on social media (2020)
Interlocking Systems of the Prison-Industrial Complex (infographic, PDF) (October 2020)
Additional external resources:
Academic Articles:
- Kathryn Getek Soltis, “The Christian Virtue of Justice and the US Prison,” Journal of Catholic Social Thought
- Nikia Smith Robert, “Penitence, Plantation and the Penitentiary,” The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School: This academic article by Dr. Nikia Smith Robert in The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School offers an abolitionist theology based on womanist and Black liberation theology.
- Hannah Bowman, “From Substitution to Solidarity: Towards an Abolitionist Atonement Theology,” Political Theology. (The version of record of this article is available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1462317X.2022.2038937)
- Matthew Skinner, “Remember My Chains: New Testament Perspectives on Incarceration,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology
- Kathryn Getek Soltis and Katie Grimes, “Order, Reform, and Abolition: Changes in Catholic Theological Imagination on Prisons and Punishment,” Theological Studies, 2021
Additional Curricula and Resource Guides:
Resource Guide: Prisons, Policing, and Punishment
Let’s Get Free: Symposium on theology and abolition from the Chicago Theological School
Abolition Curriculum: a curriculum on the abolition of policing from the Mennonite Church USA
Abolitionist Sanctuary: a movement supporting abolition centering Black churches
Abolition as Resurrection: podcast mini-series by Camille Hernandez and Jia Johnson, from McCormick Theological Seminary
Restorative Church: Making Connections Between Restorative Justice, Restorative Theology, and Restorative Practices for Church Communities
TransformHarm.org: resources and curricula about restorative justice, transformative justice, community accountability, and other alternative justice programs. Includes practical guides for restorative and transformative justice.
Abolition is for the People: series edited by Colin Kaepernick, Level/Medium
States of Incarceration: Resources on mass incarceration from the States of Incarceration project
What to Do Instead of Calling the Police: resources on alternatives to police for community safety
Critical Resistance: “Non-Reformist Reforms”/Abolitionist Steps for Policing and Prisons
Abolition Journal Study Group Guide
Prison-Industrial Complex Abolition and Transformative Justice Reading Group Guide
G-d is an Abolitionist: Introduction to Community Safety for All Toolkit from SURJ-Faith
Political Education Resources from SURJ-Faith
Penitence, Plantation and the Penitentiary—academic article by Nikia Smith Robert in The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School
The Marshall Project: first-person narrative writing from incarcerated people
The Appeal: criminal justice policy and politics
Resources from Catholic Social Teaching on prison and police abolition:
Catholic Mobilizing Network: resources for death penalty abolition and restorative justice
Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition
Church Life Journal’s series on prison abolition and Catholic ethics:
- Vincent Lloyd, Prisons are a Biblical Abomination
- Katie Walker Grimes, From Slavery to Incarceration
- Kathryn Getek Soltis, Can Justice Demand Prison Abolition?
- The Christian Virtue of Justice and the US Prison—academic article by Kathryn Getek Soltis in the Journal of Catholic Social Thought
- Kathryn Getek Soltis and Katie Grimes, “Order, Reform, and Abolition: Changes in Catholic Theological Imagination on Prisons and Punishment,” Theological Studies, 2021
Michael Jaycox, A Catholic Case for Police Defunding and Abolition
Syndicate symposium on Amy Levad’s Redeeming a Prison Society
Abolition Bibliography: Books on Abolition, Theology, and Restorative and Transformative Justice
Christian theology and prison abolition:
The Fall of the Prison: Biblical Perspectives on Prison Abolition by Lee Griffith
Griffith’s book is the most comprehensive treatment of the biblical and theological arguments for prison abolition, considering the Hebrew Bible narratives of Exodus, Exile, and the Jubilee/Sabbath years as well as Jesus’ identification with prisoners and the imprisonment of the apostles to make a profound call for Christians to proclaim that “the prisons have already fallen.”
Break Every Yoke: Religion, Justice, and the Abolition of Prisons by Vincent Lloyd and Joshua Dubler
Lloyd and Dubler’s book offers an overview of the history of Christianity’s intertwining with prisons and the history of the seeds of Christian “abolition theology,” with a special focus on the ways incarcerated people are seeking their own liberation.
The Executed God by Mark Lewis Taylor
Taylor’s searing summary of mass incarceration, police militarization, and related injustices in the US asks why the church has failed to follow the way of the cross in opposing state terror.
Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores by Dominique DuBois Gilliard
Gilliard, a Black pastor, presents an overview of the injustice mass incarceration has done to the Black community, and draws on biblical and theological arguments for restorative justice.
Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas
Episcopal priest and theologian Kelly Brown Douglas draws connections between “stand your ground” culture, the connection of whiteness and white supremacy to American visions of colonization and “manifest destiny,” and the American system of mass incarceration that disproportionately affects Black people. An essential read on the justice of God as overcoming systems of anti-Blackness, criminalization, and injustice.
Beyond Retribution by Christopher D. Marshall
Marshall’s deep analysis of New Testament texts on justice and punishment argues against retribution and that the New Testament expresses a restorative view of justice.
Beyond Prisons by Laura Magnani and Harmon Wray
Magnani and Wray’s book, supported by the American Friends Service Committee, lays out the injustices of mass incarceration and commitments toward abolition in line with faith commitments to human dignity
Free on the Inside by Greta Ronningen
Ronningen, a jail chaplain, writes about spiritual practices to engage with God and heal from trauma and broken relationships at the crisis point of incarceration, and offers a theology of human dignity and divine presence even within the brokenness of a jail.
Redeeming a Prison Society: A Liturgical and Sacramental Response to Mass Incarceration by Amy Levad
This book uses Catholic moral theology and particularly the sacraments of Confession and Eucharist to provide resources for thinking about social justice and restorative justice. A symposium of responses to the book is also available
Redemption and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Restorative Justice, ed. Trudy D. Conway, David Matzko McCarthy, and Vicki Schieber
This edited volume considers different aspects of restorative justice and its relationship to our system of incarceration from a Catholic perspective
Thinking Theologically About Mass Incarceration, ed. Antonios Kireopoulos et al.
This volume commissioned by the National Council of Churches brings a wide variety of Christian perspectives to bear on the theological and biblical questions raised by prisons, racism, and mass incarceration.
Baptized in Tear Gas by Elle Dowd
Dowd’s memoir of serving as clergy and protestor in Ferguson combines faith and abolition.
Prison abolition:
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis
Davis’ book is the classic text of prison abolition, developing a vision for a prison-free future.
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba
Essays by longtime organizer Kaba on the abolition of prison and policing
Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better by Maya Schenwar
A journalist who studies prisons and whose sister has been incarcerated, Schenwar draws a personal picture of the harms of prison, and especially the ways they destroy family and community relationships essential to rehabilitation and healing, and provides concrete examples of restorative justice alternatives.
The End of Policing by Alex Vitale
Vitale offers a history of failed efforts at police reform and a vision for the abolition of policing.
Becoming Abolitionists by Derecka Purnell
Lawyer and organizer Purnell offers a memoir, vision, and case for the abolition movement
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault
Foucault’s seminal work of philosophy traces the history of prisons to show how the current system insidiously developed from efforts at “reforming” the way society dealt with criminal offenses to instead construct an ever-more-invasive and cruel state.
Prison policy, conditions, and reform:
Hell is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement, ed. Jean Casella, James Ridgeway, and Sarah Shourd
This anthology of essays about solitary confinement features the writing of those currently locked in solitary – some for decades – providing a harrowing and horrifying look at a practice that is widespread in the US although the UN considers it a form of torture.
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Alexander’s book develops the history of mass incarceration over the past 60 years of US history, with a special focus on the way criminalization and incarceration have been used as a system of racial control.
Resistance Behind Bars by Victoria Law
Law focuses on resistance movements in women’s prisons in this study of the way female prisoners organize – usually nonviolently – for improvements in their conditions of confinement and the injustices of their cases. This book is striking in its demonstration of the ways that any solidarity among prisoners is seen as a threat by those in power in the carceral system, and in its illustration of the ways those who are incarcerated nevertheless support one another.
Prison by Any Other Name by Victoria Law and Maya Schenwar
Schenwar and Law study various ways the “prison nation” engages in surveillance and control beyond the literal prison, including electronic monitoring, probation, parole, sex offense registries, the school-to-prison pipeline, community policing, and more.
Locked In by John Pfaff
Pfaff, a professor at Fordham University, writes about why the ‘standard story’ about the War on Drugs driving mass incarceration is wrong, and how a renewed focus on prosecutors can help in efforts at decarceration.
Caught by Marie Gottschalk
Gottschalk’s book is an extensive academic overview of the forces driving the prison-industrial complex and mass incarceration.
Restorative and transformative justice:
Until We Reckon by Danielle Sered
Sered, director of the restorative justice program Common Justice in New York, draws on her extensive experience using restorative justice to respond to violence to make the case for restorative justice as superior to prisons at providing community safety. This is a must-read, with details about what restorative responses to violent harm look like.
Changing Lenses by Howard Zehr
The classic text on restorative justice, which lays out the basics of a restorative framework for addressing harm.
Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Ejeris Dixon
An anthology of practical studies based on transformative justice efforts led in local communities.
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, draws on his years of experience as a defense lawyer in death-penalty cases to illustrate problems in the system as well as moments of grace he has found accompanying people on death row.
Ambassadors of Reconciliation by Ched Myers and Elaine Enns
Religious scholars Myers and Enns draw on the history of Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as biblical studies to illuminate restorative-justice readings of the New Testament and models of Christian peacemaking.
Violence by James Gilligan
Gilligan, a psychologist in a Massachusetts state prison, explores the psychological roots of the most heinous crimes, concluding that profound shame is the emotion motivating extreme violence and offering ways to combat violence by countering shame.
Additional online resources and further articles:
Christian theology and prison abolition:
Mass Incarceration is Religious (and so is Abolition) by Joshua Dubler and Vincent Lloyd
Can Justice Demand Prison Abolition? by Kathryn Getek Soltis
Prisons are a Biblical Abomination by Vincent Lloyd
From Slavery to Incarceration by Katie Walker Grimes
The Christian Virtue of Justice and the US Prison—academic article by Kathryn Getek Soltis in the Journal of Catholic Social Thought
Penitence, Plantation and the Penitentiary—academic article by Nikia Smith Robert in The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School
A Christian Case for Prison Abolition by Hannah Bowman
Why Christians Should Be Abolitionists—Again by Hannah Bowman
“Reflecting on AFSC’s History in the Penal Abolition Movement”: essay by Laura Magnani
If you need for undocumented immigrants to be punished then you don’t believe in Jesus’ cross—a provocative atonement theology from Morgan Guyton
Criminals With Him: A Karl Barth Sermon to the Basel Prisoners—on Christian community formed among prisoners
Abolitionist theory and policy:
Abolitionist Futures Reading List—a syllabus of articles, books, and excerpts providing an introduction to abolitionist thought. This also includes a bibliography of other helpful resources providing reading lists on abolition.
Critical Resistance: Abolition Now! Ten Years of Strategy and Struggle Against the Prison Industrial Complex—essays on abolition
Instead of Prisons: A Handbook for Abolitionists—a book, available online, with an introduction to abolitionist theory and practice
What Abolitionists Do—an introductory essay to prison abolitionist ideas
What is Prison Abolition?—an introduction in The Nation
Prison Abolition is the Feminist Issue We Need to Talk About—a feminist case for abolition
How Can We Reconcile Prison Abolition with #MeToo?
Are We There Yet? The Promise, Perils, and Politics of Penal Reform
What to Do Instead of Calling the Police—resources for alternatives to calling the police
Prison conditions and mass incarceration:
Prison Policy Initiative: The Whole Pie 2018—report summarizing how many people are in US prisons and jails and for what reasons
Mass Incarceration in America, Explained in 22 Maps and Charts
Solitary confinement:
Solitary Confinement Is Used to Break People—I Know Because I Endured It
43 Years in Solitary—an interview with Albert Woodfox
Malnutrition, rape, family separation, and conditions of confinement:
Prison Rape Is Not a Punchline
Prison Rips Babies From the Arms of Their Mothers: A View From Behind Bars
My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard—Mother Jones investigation on private prisons
Limiting Human Contact for Prisoners is Counterproductive and Un-Christian
Prisons that withhold menstrual pads humiliate women and violate basic rights
Life sentences and sentencing issues:
The Moral Problem of Life-Without-Parole Sentences
Why So Few Violent Offenders Are Let Out on Parole
To End Mass Incarceration We Need to End Long Sentences
The Lifelong Learning of Lifelong Inmates
Brenda died in prison, but we lifers and long-termers will keep her legacy alive—a moving essay about the role lifers play in stabilizing community within prisons
Restorative justice:
Can Forgiveness Play a Role in Criminal Justice?—a New York Times magazine story from 2013 describing the use of a restorative justice circle in a murder case involving two teenagers.
The Moving Target of Forgiveness—a personal reflection on forgiveness from a woman whose husband was murdered
Restorative Justice is not Forgiveness—a response critical of the use of “forgiveness” as the only model for restorative justice, as placing too much of a burden on survivors
Victims and Offenders Come Together to Make Their Own Justice—a description of a restorative justice program in practice
Radical Compassion: Restorative Justice Programs Meet the Needs of Both Victims and Offenders—an interview with a restorative justice practitioner about the process
After Assault, Some Campuses Focus on Healing Over Punishment—about the use of restorative justice processes in cases of sexual assault on college campuses
A Different Path for Confronting Sexual Assault—an article about what a restorative justice process can offer in cases of sexual assault and misconduct
A New Approach to Violence Treatment—an interview with Dr. James Gilligan on restorative responses to violence
Judge Abby Abinanti Is Fighting for Her Tribe—and for a Better Justice System—an article about a Native American judge bringing traditional tribal principles to her court
Abolition Culture: Moving Beyond Disposability in the Movement—a reflection on using principles of restorative justice to address conflicts within activist communities
The Art of Restorative Questions—an exhibition of art dealing with principles of restorative justice