Recently, Texas Judge Tammy Kemp spoke out in defense of the hug and the Bible she gave to ex-police officer Amber Guyger following her murder sentencing.
Kemp shouldn’t have to defend her actions. They speak to a spirit of grace, compassion, and mercy that our justice system desperately needs more of.
Last year, Guyger made headlines when she shot and killed 26-year-old black accountant Botham Jean after accidentally entering his apartment and mistaking him for an intruder in her home. This month, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his murder. At the end of the hearing, Jean’s 18-year-old brother Brandt Jean stunned the courtroom when he hugged Guyger for almost a minute, telling her, “I forgive you [and] I love you as a person.” When Guyger asked Kemp if she could hug her as well, and wondered if God could forgive her, Kemp came down from the bench and embraced her.
Botham Jean’s father forgave Guyger as well, later telling CNN, “If you will not forgive, neither will your Father forgive you.” Dallas West Church of Christ, where Jean’s family worshiped after the sentencing, applauded the hugs. The Dallas Police Department called them acts of “forgiveness, faith and trust.”
But others were outraged. Some called them examples of “speedy forgiveness” and “an [acceptance] of racial violence.” The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, saying Kemp inappropriately proselytized to the defendant.
Calling Kemp’s actions unethical cheapens a beautiful and genuine moment of compassion within the justice system. Neither Kemp nor Jean was giving Guyger a second chance at her sentencing. They were offering her a second chance at faith. They were telling a woman wracked with guilt that she wasn’t a monster. And they shouldn’t be asked to apologize for it.
What if we didn’t view their actions as an issue of black versus white, legal or illegal? What if we viewed them simply as what they were — acts of Christian, and human, love? What if Kemp wasn’t a black judge overstepping with a white defendant, and Brandt Jean wasn’t a young black man undermining the sentencing of a white police officer? What if they were just two people showing grace to one another?
When we think about justice, we also need to think about healing. In a system that’s broken, in a society that’s divided by race and hardened by violence, every moment of grace should be ennobled. We are called to “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with … God (Micah 6:8).” In Guyger’s sentencing, justice was given and so was mercy. Why should anyone be condemned for acting in faith?
Earlier this year, three black churches became the target of hate crimes when they were burned down by an arsonist. Their pastors urged forgiveness, saying the arsonist “only [knows] what people feed him — hatred and envy and strife. And if you keep feeding people with that, then it’s going to turn into a whole lot worse than three churches.” Misty Wallace, who almost died from an attempted murder when she was 18 years old, now gives joint talks with her shooter about restorative justice. The families of the 2015 Charleston church shooting victims not only forgave Dylann Roof at his bond hearing, but they prayed for his soul.
There are thousands of similar incredible examples of people transcending vitriol and using mercy to find a way toward healing. Every day, advocates of the First Step Act and other initiatives that encourage transformation and rehabilitation within the justice system are operating with similar motivations. These aren’t efforts to be scorned; they are sincere attempts at creating positive change from tragedy.
In a courtroom, shouldn’t judges, lawyers, bailiffs, witnesses, and even victims practice the kind of behavior that we want convicted defendants to exhibit when they reenter society?
Crime demands accountability. But we don’t need more wasted lives. We need more restored lives. And to do that, we need to celebrate people such as Kemp and Jean, not ask them to explain themselves.
Timothy Head is executive director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition.
