Overview

Are you watching addiction destroy someone you love? Or seeing an entire system you serve fail due to addiction? Do you feel trapped between consequences that don't heal and compassion that feels powerless? Families feel ashamed and helpless. Professionals feel burned out by a revolving door that recycles pain instead of restoring people. You know this is serious. But what if there's finally a better way? Author Brett Knight brings rare authority to this conversation, having lived on both sides of the gavel-and far beyond it. A former assistant district attorney who prosecuted drug cases, a criminal defense attorney who fought for treatment over prison, and a pastor who has walked alongside addicts and their families, Brett Knight has spent decades working at the intersection of justice, faith, and recovery. He has helped thousands of individuals affected by addiction and guided hundreds toward treatment-forward outcomes that reduce relapse, restore dignity, and rebuild lives. After witnessing firsthand why punishment alone fails-and why compassion without structure collapses-Between the Gavel and Grace: Setting People Free From Addiction and Into Healing offers a new framework for responding to addiction. Grounded in real courtroom stories, family case studies, and faith-rooted wisdom, this book reveals how accountability and mercy can work together to break cycles instead of reinforcing them. In this book, you'll learn how to: Understand addiction as unhealed pain rather than moral failure Respond to crisis without enabling or abandoning boundaries Navigate the justice system with clarity and purpose Use language that builds compliance instead of resistance Advocate for treatment-forward solutions that actually work Restore hope in families overwhelmed by shame and fear Build sustainable circles of care across legal, medical, and faith systems You don't have to choose between ""tough love"" and doing nothing anymore. This approach shows how grace can be strategic, structured, and effective-bringing relief to families, renewed purpose to professionals, and real healing to communities. You don't need to be an expert. You just need a better model. If you're ready to stop feeling helpless and start becoming part of the solution, Between the Gavel and Grace will change how you see addiction-and how you respond to it. Buy Between the Gavel and Grace today and learn how to break chains instead of forging new ones.

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9781971949192

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Brett Knight has spent his life standing in courtrooms-but his true calling has always been standing in the gap for the broken.Born in Kansas, raised in Illinois, and settled in Tennessee as a young adult, Brett grew up in a loving but poor home. Hard work was not optional. He worked three part-time jobs to put himself through college and later built a successful career in information technology before answering a long-delayed call to attend law school.After graduating from Belmont University College of Law, Brett served as a criminal prosecutor for the State of Tennessee before transitioning into private practice, where he now serves as a criminal defense attorney and City Judge.But it was through the stories behind the cases-the addiction, the trauma, the generational pain-that Brett discovered the deeper work he was meant to do. For years, he has walked closely with individuals battling drug and alcohol addiction, many of whom entered the justice system at their lowest point. Instead of seeing only charges and convictions, Brett sees sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers as people created in the image of God, often carrying wounds long before they ever picked up a substance.As an ordained pastor in Tennessee, Brett invests heavily in recovery ministry. He works alongside faith-based programs, mentors men and women coming out of incarceration, and advocates for restoration over condemnation. He believes firmly that accountability and mercy are not opposites-and that real transformation happens when truth is paired with grace.Together with his wife Donna, a microbiologist who manages major hospital laboratories, Brett dedicates much of his time to helping individuals rebuild their lives after addiction and trauma. Their shared mission is simple: No one is beyond redemption.Through his podcast, public speaking, and daily work in both the legal and ministry worlds, Brett continues to champion one central message: You cannot punish the pain away-but you can heal it. He and Donna live in Tennessee and remain deeply committed to serving their community and walking with others toward freedom.

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