Chuck Colson, RIP

While the web is filled with commentary on his passing, see especially a tribute from Christianity Today to Chuck Colson, the Nixon-era dirty trickster turned prison evangelist and reformer, who died last week of a brain hemorrhage. Cynics often pooh-pooh jailhouse conversions, and Colson's in particular has been derided by liberals for decades. But the prison stint served for his Watergate-related crimes transformed the compiler of Nixon's "Enemies List" into a pioneer of the conservative justice reform agenda whose influence will long outlive him. Whether one agreed with his theology or political views, without Chuck Colson, Grits certainly doubts the nascent Right on Crime effort could ever have materialized. May he rest in peace.