Washington's role in crime control has expanded dramatically since 1968. But the results have been mixed at best. Earlier this vear, an American Bar Association report led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III detailed the dangers of further federalizing crime policy. Such changes would undoubtedly reduce the number of drugonly offenders in federal prisons by tens of thousands. Study and promote faithbased crime prevention and restorative justice .
Scientific studies testify to the efficacy of faithbased efforts.
The report echoed the conclusion of a study published in 1995 in the journal Criminology, namely, that most of the best available empirical evidence suggests that religion significantly reduces crime and delinquency. The remarkable leaders and programs behind these findings know one God but many religions and ideologies. The liberal New York Theological Seminary recently launched an antiviolence youth outreach program staffed by exoffender graduates of its historic Sing Sing education ministry, advised by leaders of the American program directed by former football star Jim Brown and supported financially by both Republican Gov. George Pataki and the Ford Foundation. The Prison Fellowship Ministry, led by Watergate offender Charles Colson, a religious conservative, recently launched an initiative dedicated to ministering to the spiritual and material needs of prisoners, exprisoners, and their families, including the over one million youngsters in this country who have one of both parents in prison or jail. The National TenPoint Leadership Foundation, led by Rev. Eugene F. Rivers III of Boston, a former Philadelphia gang member, has put responsible adults in the lives of thousands of atrisk youths, and helped to spark ecumenical, interfaith and publicprivate partnerships dedicated to reducing violence in cities all across the country.