For as long as evangelicalism has existed, American Christians have been divided over how to best approach issues of public policy. While abortion has been something large numbers of conservative Christians have agreed upon, other issues have been more difficult to build consensus around. Areas of policy like immigration, crime, and the environment continue to divide well-meaning Christians with different ideas about how to achieve complex goals.
One of these multifaceted areas of policy is the criminal justice system. The United States is home to the world’s largest population of incarcerated people. At just four percent of the world’s population, our nation houses sixteen percent of the world’s incarcerated individuals. Not only does America imprison an extraordinary amount of people, the success of our system in dispensing justice has drawn criticism for its failures. Despite the problems, questions of safety remain a concern for Christians and criminal justice reform is notoriously difficult to implement.
What Is Justice in an Impossible Situation?
It is against this backdrop that the Netflix documentary The Mendendez Brothers has been released. Filmmaker Alejandro Hartmann brings viewers back to 1989 when the brothers, Lyle and Erik, were accused of murdering their wealthy parents in their Beverly Hills home. On August 20th of that year, the two brothers entered the living room where Jose and Kitty Mendendez were watching television, and fired multiple shotgun rounds into the defenseless parents. Despite the gory details of the murder and the investigation, The Menendez Brothers provides believers with an opportunity to think deeply about fundamental questions associated with justice. Many of these questions—such as the State’s role in punishment and the nature of redemption—are challenging. Ultimately, however, these questions defy the simplistic black-and-white views evangelicals often gravitate towards.
While the public mocked the brothers’ claims of sexual assault during the trial, today that abuse is taken seriously.
The story told in the documentary is essentially the story of Lyle and Erik Mendendez. While it is undisputed that the brothers killed their parents, the movie investigates the story behind the murders. Although the prosecution painted the brothers as entitled rich kids restless to get their hands on their parents’ substantial fortune, the truth laid out in the documentary is more complex.
Perhaps the most memorable part of the documentary is the story the defense team presented at trial. The account, argued by nineties’ powerhouse attorney Leslie Abramson, was of a brutal father and two severely abused young men. The defense presented the story of a wealthy and powerful Cuban immigrant, Jose Mendendez, who ruthlessly abused his children physically and sexually. In stories told during the trial and backed up with new evidence from other young men, Jose Mendendez is described as a monster who repeatedly assaulted his children and others. In the case of the younger brother, Erik Mendendez, the abuse only stopped with the death of his father. According to the testimony of the brothers, the murder was a tragic end to an impossible situation.
The Christian Narrative and Human Brokenness
The public response to the documentary has been enthusiastic. Premiering on October 7th, over twenty-two million viewers watched the film in its first six days. The film is well done and paints a sympathetic picture of the two brothers. While the trial’s prosecutor Pamela Bozanich comes off as dismissive towards the brothers’ claims in featured interviews, family members and others involved in the trial paint a less straightforward and simplistic story. In many ways, the film serves as a reminder of how far we have come in the past thirty years. While the public mocked the brothers’ claims of sexual assault during the trial, today that abuse is taken seriously. In 2024 America, we know that one in six young men is sexually abused during their childhood and the ramifications are well-documented.
Part of taking this film seriously means we must balance this sympathy with the biblical theme of retribution.
It is hard to watch the film and not feel as though the brothers were failed by the system. While their initial trial ended in a hung jury, the retrial severely limited the defense in not allowing them to use a “battered women’s” defense. According to the judge, men can’t use this defense because they couldn’t possibly suffer the same emotional consequences as abused women. While Christians who watch this film will be encouraged by the progress our society has made in caring for abused people, the documentary poses certain questions we must wrestle with.
The Mendendez Brothers does a wonderful job at exposing the problems with society and the justice system in the early 1990s. The fact that few people were willing to believe what these young men went through is shameful. For Christians, however, part of taking this film seriously means we must balance this sympathy with the biblical theme of retribution. The Scriptures make it clear that the government has been given the responsibility of wielding the sword in pursuit of justice (Romans 13:1-7). Furthermore, the Old Testament establishes a principle of proportionality in punishing sin. In other words, the Old Testament law allows for capital punishment in cases of murder (Exod. 21:23-25; Deut. 17:6). Biblical justice is certainly not a mandate to be soft on crime.
Perhaps even more importantly, the Bible demands that sinners take responsibility for their actions. In the book of James, we are told that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin” (James 1:14-15). The Bible is clear: we are responsible for the sins we commit. Christians do not have the option of pointing the finger at someone else’s sin as an excuse. While this is true, the Bible is also clear that situations can become morally complicated when multiple wrongs are committed.
In Matthew 18:6, Jesus makes an important statement that is essential in understanding the Mendendez Brothers. In this portion of Scripture, Jesus is teaching his disciples what the Kingdom of God looks like. In doing so, Jesus calls a little child over to himself and says this: “[W]hoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
The point Jesus is making is powerful. For those who hold influence, it is a great sin to use that power to exploit or damage a weaker individual. In the case of Erik and Lyle, their father used his power to inflict deep psychological and physical harm on his boys. Although this does not excuse murder, it should certainly be considered when thinking through what justice demands. Grappling with both responsibility and exploitation in the pursuit of justice is something I hope many Christians will do in the context of this film.
Is Simplicity the Enemy of Truth?
Morally complicated questions are nothing new to humanity. I have always found the story of Tamar in the Bible challenging. In Genesis 38, the widow Tamar deceives her father-in-law into sleeping with her when he fails to provide her with an heir (a new husband) who will give her offspring. Despite the deceit and sexual immorality, the story ends with Tamar as the the victim who took back her rights from a dismissive father-in-law. While the Bible is crystal clear about sin, this story provides something that American Christians often fail to consider. In a world marred by sin, sometimes justice doesn’t look the way we hope. Oftentimes, simplicity is the enemy of a more robust view of truth.
Taken in the context of the ancient world, Tamar’s actions become more understandable. A woman without a husband was at great risk, and a woman without an heir faced many social pressures. First and foremost, family members watched over their elderly relatives, and without a child there would be no one to provide for her. Secondly, her first husband’s name and land would be lost without an heir. While the offense Tamar commits is less gruesome than the Mendendez brothers’, the point remains: context is key when evaluating justice.
Complexity and Grace
My hope for Christians who watch this documentary is two-fold. Because I am someone who sees our criminal justice reform as an area of opportunity for Christians, I hope this case will move some believers to fight for change. While I don’t have all the answers, it seems that the lack of a good defense for most offenders is morally problematic. While this wasn’t the case for the Mendendez brothers, the film does provide a picture of the system’s problems. At the time, the District Attorney in Los Angeles was desperate for a win and tremendous pressure was put on the prosecutor to get a guilty verdict.
Although this is important, the number of people that will be moved to work for reform will most likely be limited. While Christians have contributed in valuable ways to conversations about the death penalty, problems with the way crimes are prosecuted, and the state of juvenile justice in America, this movement has not yet become as widespread as other forms of Christian social advocacy. Far more Christians today put their resources towards the pro-life movement than towards criminal justice causes.
By treating people as layered and many-sided individuals with often painful stories, we are better able to communicate the grace offered at the cross.
Perhaps even more than my hope for Christians to be involved in criminal justice reform, I’m optimistic that films like this can help believers develop a more holistic public witness. Too often, conservative Christians have neglected the plight of the oppressed. The Kingdom of God has been and will always be good news for the vulnerable. This includes those mistreated by our justice system, but it also includes those who are vulnerable in every area of human life. I fear that too often we are unwilling to enter into the complexities of people’s stories.
This willingness is important for our witness. When Jesus was on Earth, he was unafraid to enter into the lives of morally complicated people. For Simon the Zealot, a political terrorist, Jesus offered redemption. For Matthew the tax collector, Jesus offered a way into a better community. In Mary Magdalen, Jesus saw a sinner worthy of love. Jesus refused to reduce people to one-dimensional characters; we would do well to imitate him in this. By treating people as layered and many-sided individuals with often painful stories, we are better able to communicate the grace offered at the cross.
I’m not sure if the Mendendez brothers should be let out of prison. The crime they committed was brutal and their actions after the crime seem confusing for even the most cold-blooded criminals. While this is true, this film at least acknowledges that there is more to their story. The value of this documentary is that it opens up to the viewer an opportunity to see these brothers as something more complex and worthy of compassion.
Watch this film, and you may well walk away with a greater understanding of human experience, and become more willing to consider what grace looks like in even the most difficult circumstances.
