Shima Baradaran Baughman: Mercy on the Margins
Hear from a nationally renowned expert on criminal justice reform
Today, we’re joined by Shima Baradaran Baughman, a nationally renowned expert on criminal justice reform and a law professor at BYU. After years focusing on shaping public policy and reforming systems, Shima began to recognize that the deepest and most lasting change wasn’t coming from legislation alone, but from the quiet, compassionate efforts of faith communities and individuals who were directly transforming lives one by one.
In this conversation, Shima shares her astonishing life story—how her family fled Iran after her mother’s imprisonment for political activism, their conversion to Christianity after arriving in the United States, and how those experiences have fueled a passion for justice and mercy.
Shima also shares insights from her current research, which examines the profound impact faith communities are having on those often forgotten by society. Whether it’s through prison ministries, sitting beside strangers during bail hearings to bear witness and offer solidarity, or ward families welcoming and supporting formerly incarcerated individuals, she highlights how these simple, Christlike acts of radical mercy are breaking down barriers, healing hearts, and bringing light to some of the darkest corners of our world.
Shima reminds us that living like Jesus will often take us to the margins—to uncomfortable, messy spaces where true transformation begins. And that it’s in those spaces where both hearts and lives can be changed, including our own.
More from Faith Matters on this topic:
The Other Side Academy: "Zion with F-Bombs" — Joseph Grenny at Restore
The Honest Truth about our Messy Families - A Conversation with Joseph Grenny
Books we talked about:
Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Mass Incarceration, Jocelyn Simonson
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt
The Courage of Compassion: A Journey from Judgment to Connection, Robin Steinberg
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, Gregory Boyle
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COMING UP AT THE COMPASS
Join us for this conversation between award-winning journalist Jonathan Rauch and Terryl Givens, whose writings on agency played an important role in Rauch’s provocative new book, Cross Purposes. Those who purchase books can have them signed by the author afterwards.
Deepen your Come Follow Me study for 2025 as Terryl Givens and Dr. Ariel Laughton explore questions like, What was the original Christian church? Did it look anything like the Restored Church? Is our great apostasy narrative accurate? In-person attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of these remarkable scholars. It’s an opportunity you won’t want to miss!
This conversation is the first of a new Faith Matters series, The Big Questions, happening at the Compass.
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Thank you for the podcast with Shima Baradaran and sharing the work she is doing.
I taught in the Ohio State prison system for five years and leaned more than I taught.
At first I was scared, but longer I was there, I came to see the inmates as people.
Shima is right there needs to be penalties for breaking the law and there can be understanding and compassion.
Many of the them said that society had thrown them away. I found families in the system, cousins, uncles etc. Many of the inmates I taught were incarcerated because of drug offenses and not violent crimes.
Again thank for this podcast so others can understand that prisoners are people too and need support.