State crime and Christian resistance: the prophetic criminality of Philip Berrigan and Elizabeth McAlister

摘要

This article examines the unorthodox criminology of Philip Berrigan and Elizabeth McAlister. First, in a biographical sketch, we present the theology, legal thought, and criminal acts of resistance of these 'holy outlaws.' Second, we offer some criminological reflections on the prophetic criminality of Berrigan and McAlister. Four critical issues are discussed: (1) Berrigan and McAlister's challenge to the conventional definition of crime; (2) their identification of the problem of state crime; (3) the criminalization of their resistance to state crimes such as the Vietnam War and the religion of nuclearism; and (4) how the prophetic criminality of Berrigan and McAlister challenges professional criminologists to engage in peaceful practice and create what has come to be known as a 'public criminology.'