One Nation under God, with Liberty and Justice for All
A Pamphlet Produced by the United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
Rev. Sala W.J. Nolan-Gonzales, Minister for Criminal Justice and Human Rights
700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
Email to request a copies for your campus ministry: Annie Congress

Why does America have the highest percentage of inmates and how do we, as a faith community, relate to the inmates and others affected by this number of inmates? The United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries has put together a 9 session curriculum guide to address the United State Justice System. "One Nation under God, with Liberty and Justice for All" unfolds the issue from various perspectives including general information about the U.S. Justice System, victims of crime, race and ethnicity, the prison industrial complex, the people that are incarcerated, their families, harsh penalties, human rights, and recidivism. Each session provides basic information usually in the form of statistics, insightful discussion questions, and challenging learning assignments.

"One Nation under God, with Liberty and Justice for All" places a very strong emphasis on gaining knowledge of the criminal justice system (especially knowledge of the correctional facilities in the group's geographical area) in order to know how to act. The information provided becomes a foundation from which to start action. Although the statistics (coming from studies done in 2004) can be overwhelming, through the variety of perspectives on the issue one can begin to see how each perspective affects the others. The discussion questions seem to really get at the heart of the matter. The learning assignments are equally as challenging and seemingly effective. The broad range of assignments could easily be molded into whatever a particular group needed, meaning that some could be left out and others focused on more. The assignments range from finding out specific information about local incarceration facilities to developing and implementing an assistance program for those affected by the justice system.

When considering how this curriculum might play itself out in small, college age or young adult groups, I could see it working best in one of two ways: 1)The sessions could be spent researching the various perspectives together leading to a more developed, practical and effective plan of action (but might extend the focus beyond 9 sessions). 2) The research could be done by a leader or divided among the members of the group in the beginning and then reported on in order to leave the session times open for thought provoking and necessary discussion that would provide some of the real (by real I mean not statistical information) stories and theological perspectives that the curriculum lacks.

"One Nation under God, with Liberty and Justice for All" really challenges a group and requires commitment. It pushes the group out of a state of hopelessness at the face of all human rights issues together and allows them to focus on one important issue putting them one step closer to effective action.