A Theology of Justice
Interpreting John Rawls in Corrections Ethics - An Ethnography
Foreword by Marvin Crawford
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
There are thirty-eight ethical statements-principles throughout the seven chapters of A Theology of Justice. These ethical statements form a comprehensive corrections ethic informed by the human rights abuses occurring in jails and prisons in the United States, offering evidence-based correctives. This corrections ethic is informed by twenty years of qualitative research inside four jail and prison institutions, as an administrator of both Treatment and Religious Services departments; including the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Leavenworth, United States Penitentiary in Atlanta, Maryland Division of Pretrial Detention and Services, and the Adams County Adult Correctional Complex in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A Theology of Justice is foundational toward a corrections ethic, and reflective of disciplines possessing extensive research in the development of its ethics, such as business ethics and medical ethics.
Larry Donell Covin Jr. is the author of Thirteen Turns: A Theology Resurrected from the Gallows of Jim Crow Christianity. He is the Systematic Theologian-Religion Scholar at Historic Trinity UCC Church (1742) York, Pennsylvania. He earned a BS from Albany State University, MDiv from the Interdenominational Theological Center, DMin from Lancaster Theological Seminary at Moravian University, and a Postdoctoral-Research ThM from Princeton Theological Seminary. For over twenty years he taught at the university and seminary level.
“A Theology of Justice is a much-needed resource to confront difficulties faced in the United States in racial issues and prison reform. The topics have relevance for today and the future. I hope that our country has the courage and fortitude to enact the changes necessary to bring a better tomorrow.”
—Brian Alpaugh, former adult probation officer
“Dr. Covin’s analysis, testimony, and code of ethics is a powerful yet poignant reminder of how the United States views and treats our millions of incarcerated individuals. Prison officials, reformers, and abolitionists alike can find language and reason for transforming and humanizing our notoriously and unnecessarily harsh, unjust prison system, so long as it exists.”
—Nick Miron, anti-racism educator and trainer
“This publication provides thoughtful, clear, and compelling ethical principles and insight that speak to the need for radical change in corrections praxis. The strength and integrity of this work is presented with impressive scholarship, clarity, and accuracy and covers more than twenty years of experiential learning, analysis, and research. Thirty-eight ethical principles presented, if applied, should positively change the painstaking narrative and trajectory of incarcerations in America among people in general and people of color in particular.”
—Carol Green Freeman, former district court commissioner, Baltimore City
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