The Confronting Christianity Podcast with Rebecca McLaughlin

Reforming Criminal Justice With Matthew Martens

Episode Summary

Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Matthew Martens to discuss if Christianity can help reform the criminal justice system.

Episode Notes

Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Matthew Martens to discuss if Christianity can help reform the criminal justice system. 

Questions Covered in This Episode:

• What is the quick summary of what you are proposing in this book?
• What does Christianity have to do with the criminal justice system?
• Why does Christianity have a proposal for reforming the criminal justice system in America?
• The number of people has increased substantially, what is the reason for that?
• When you think about where we are today for criminal justice, how is that politically motivated?
• Is the right Christian response to just let people go freely even if they have done something wrong?
• How can we tell if someone has truly repented of their crimes?
• Were you a Christian before you became a lawyer? Did that lead to your decision to become a lawyer?

Guest Bio:

Matthew Martens has been a lawyer for 27 years after graduating first in his class at the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1996. At the outset of his legal career, Matthew spent two years in Washington, DC serving as a law clerk for a federal court of appeals judge and then to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist at the US Supreme Court.

In the years that followed, he has worked both as a federal prosecutor (9 years) and as a criminal defense attorney (13 years). Matthew is currently a partner in the Washington, DC office of one of the world's largest law firms. Along the way, he attended seminary part-time at Dallas Theological Seminary, graduating with a master's degree in biblical studies in 2010. Matthew is currently pursuing a Th.M. in theological ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Resources Mentioned:

• Romans 13
• “Reforming Criminal Justice” by Matthew T. Martens