Reply #35: Don't you believe in being quit evens? [View All]

[Interrobang]

So if someone's an ex-con, and I mean ex-, that means you have to stigmatise them for the rest of their lives, even though they've done their time and (allegedly) paid their debt to society? No wonder recidivism's so high in the US if no one's willing to give ex-inmates a chance to keep their noses clean and redeem themselves afterwards.

Incidentally, my old project boss, a guy who's now the CEO of his own fairly successful small business, spent some time in jail as a young man, and now he's educated, professionally certified, and fairly well-off. I have to respect that, a *lot*. (He's also the nicest guy I've ever worked for, but that's just editorializing.) He's a safety professional with a list of certifications as long as your arm. I *trust* his judgement.

Me, I figure that someone should get provisional respect until their behaviour proves them worthy of more respect or less.

I mean, sure, people *care* that Neil Bush is a crook, but if you're extending that argument out to mean that you're automatically going to stop your daughter from marrying someone who was once in jail, that's kind of ridiculous.