Book Review: Miller, M. K. (2006). Religion in Criminal Justice. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing. vii, 225 pp

• Author: John P. Hoffmann
• Published date: 01 September 2009
• Date: 01 September 2009
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016809331662
• publishedBy: Sage Publications, Inc.

primary focus on application to the criminal justice system, and yet the monograph seemed more a

theological piece with a secondary focus on the criminal justice system.

I was also concerned about the frequent flipping between the reality of how Catholic Church tra-

ditions have informed the criminal justice system and the author’s normative theological views of

how Catholic Church traditions should be applied. A few sections in chapters 1 and 4 notwithstand-

ing, the author perhaps did not devote enough discussion to how Catholic traditions supported, or at

the least provided the impetus for, a plethora of unsavory public policy directives and treatment of

offenders. If the reality is discussed first, his theory could then be explicated as a viable alternative.

In terms of readability and the potential to provoke thoughtful classroom discussion, the book’s

primary audience likely would be graduate students in criminal justice, policy, and religion courses.

In my judgment, the volume would not be a good fit for undergraduate courses in sociology, crim-

inology, or criminal justice. In addition to the work being primarily theological rather than crimin-

ological, the writing is extremely dense, often verbose, and rarely cites the work of mainstream

scholars in criminology and criminal justice.

Kent R. Kerley

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Miller, M. K. (2006). Religion in Criminal Justice. New York:

LFB Scholarly Publishing. vii, 225 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016809331662

The attorney for Edward James Wood, on trial in Idaho for the murder of a child, contended that a

Mormon belief about ‘‘blood atonement,’’ or the shedding of one’s blood to recompense for a mur-

derous act, was described to his client and this had contaminated the trial. The California Supreme

Court upheld the death sentence of Bob Russell Williams, finding that biblical passages circulated by

a juror—including one that reads that fornicators be delivered ‘‘unto Satan for the destruction of the

flesh, that the spirit might be saved’’ (Corinthians 5:5)—did not change the likelihood that the jury

would have passed a sentence of death. A 2001 Pew Center Survey reported that public support for

the death penalty decreased in the late 1990s; respondents most often mentioned their religious con-

victions as the foundation for their opposition.

It is these types of issues that motivated Monica K. Miller’s research that is presented in Religion

in Criminal Justice. The title is a bit of a misnomer since the book focuses almost exclusively on the

use of religion in criminal trials. Instead of a more expansive treatment, Miller presents a treatise on

some of the ways that religion has been used to defend, prosecute, and render judgment on criminal

defendants. One would think from the book’s title that it would also address how religion has played

a role in policing and corrections and perhaps even the rise of the modern criminal justice system, but

it does not. Rather, as Miller mentions early, ‘‘this book will focus on the use of religious appeals by

both prosecutors and defense attorneys during closing arguments in the sentencing phase of death

penalty trials’’ (p. 2). Thus, the book is quite narrowly focused although it provides a valuable ref-

erence for those concerned with religion and the courts.

Miller begins by briefly mentioning several ways that religion has been introduced in criminal

trials. Noting that the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution generally prohibits courts’ deci-

sions from being made on the grounds of religion, she points out that it is not uncommon for attor-

neys to bring up a number of religious claims and issues during criminal trials. This occurs most

often during the closing arguments when attorneys on both sides are given significant leeway to offer

broad-based rhetoric in their pursuit of a conviction or an acquittal.

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