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The Crossway Podcast

The Death Penalty, Plea Bargaining, and Other Problems with the Criminal Justice System (Matt Martens)

The Crossway Podcast

Crossway

Books, Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.8653 Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, trial lawyer Matt Martens explains how our American criminal justice system is broken and that in order for us to love all of our neighbors well, reforms need to be made. Matt Martens (JD, University of North Carolina School of Law; MABS, Dallas Theological Seminary) is a trial lawyer and partner at an international law firm in Washington, DC. He has spent the bulk of his more than twenty-five-year legal career practicing criminal law both as a federal prosecutor and as a defense attorney. He is also the author of 'Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal' from Crossway. Read the full transcript of this episode. If you enjoyed this episode be sure to leave us a review, which helps us spread the word about the show! Complete this survey for a free audiobook by Kevin DeYoung!

Transcript

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0:00.0

The U.S. criminal justice system has been the subject of much controversy in the last few decades.

0:08.8

All too often, as the conversation progresses, emotions swell, temperatures rise,

0:13.7

and productive dialogue all but disappears as people retreat to partisan talking points.

0:19.7

And all of this often leaves Bible believing,

0:22.3

neighbor-loving Christians frustrated and confused,

0:25.7

unsure as to what problems really exist,

0:28.4

and what it might look like to address them.

0:31.3

Today, I'm excited to sit down with Matt Martens,

0:34.1

an experienced lawyer who has spent years working

0:36.5

as both a criminal prosecutor and as a defense attorney.

0:40.3

In our conversation, he sets forth a distinctly Christian vision of criminal justice,

0:45.3

highlighting how the Great Commandment, loving God, and loving neighbor should inform our approach to both the victim and the accused.

0:53.3

He also walks through a number of specific issues related to the criminal justice system,

0:57.0

including plea bargains, the right to counsel, the death penalty, and the prevalence of wrongful convictions.

1:03.0

Matt Martins is a trial lawyer and partner at an international law firm in Washington, D.C.

1:09.0

He spent the bulk of his legal career practicing criminal

1:11.6

law, both as a federal prosecutor and as a defense attorney. He also served as a law clerk to

1:17.1

Chief Justice William Rehnquist at the United States Supreme Court. His new book with Crossway

1:21.8

is called Reforming Criminal Justice, a Christian proposal. Let's get started.

1:34.3

Well, Matt, thank you so much for joining me today on the Crossway podcast. Thanks for having me. So you have a really fascinating bio, if I do say so. Thank you. You received a law

1:40.9

degree from the University of North Carolina Law School. You then went to Washington, D.C., and clerked for the Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist,

1:48.7

who was Chief Justice at the time that you were clerking for him.

...

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