To you, can a convicted criminal, who has served his/her time, start again from scratch?

I’d always be leery of the violent criminals, especially where their crimes have a high rate of recidivism, and I can’t really be objective about the white collar criminals, as I had a beloved cousin who was one, did his time, and never caught a break after that. Story too long for here, but it was a sad sad case, and he passed away a few years ago, having never fully recovered any standing from that whole thing.

Sure, except for the child molester.

Their time should only end when the executioner throws the switch.

Depending on their crime. If it was a petty crime, such as stealing food I think they should start fresh, especially if it’s a teenager. If it is a felony, including burgulary rape and murder, I don’t see how I could forget what they have done.
In the case where an outgoing Mississippi governor pardoned 4 convicted murderers, I think that was a very grave error on his part. They did not serve their time and actually lived in the governors mansion as trustees. One man shot his wife in the face while she held their baby. Their slate is wiped clean, they can go on with life without the murders on their record. They will be able to vote, purchase a gun, not report to a parole officer. I don’t want those men living in my state let alone next door to me.

Outgoing Mississippi governor pardons many including 4 convicted murderers

There would always be prejudice regarding an ex-con, especially if the crime places the person on a sex offender registry. That’s the way it is. For some, me included, abuse of any flavor on a child should never be forgotten.

Modern society has turned into The Count of Monte Cristo. With the ability to check criminal backgrounds for minimum wage jobs it’s pretty hard.
I have a friend whose son has not had any trouble getting oilfield work though. They know his history and as long as he does his job they’re OK with it. He makes pretty good money apparently too.

It depends on the crime. A white collar criminal would find it easier than someone who has committed a violent crime. I think paedophiles especially have a difficult time. Ignoring whether they can be rehabilitated (I am not sure they can), community members are understandably very reluctant to have people who have been found guilty of crimes against children living near them.

The same with those who have committed murders that have received a lot of media coverage. Recently a woman who was charged with murdering a man and drinking his blood was released from gaol. It has been all over the newspaper with her photos. She will find it hard to be accepted into society, even if she is reformed.

If it was someone who had been gaoled for a non-violent crime, I would be fine with having someone like that in my community. If it was a violent criminal, I would have significant reservations. Logically I know people have the right to resume their lives after they have served their time. I agree that people should be able to. Despite agreeing with this, I am sure I would feel uncomfortable having a paedophile or murderer (depending on the circumstances) living next door to me and if I had young children. In truth, I wouldn’t want them there.

I give them the benefit of the doubt but I still wouldn’t let myself end up alone with them.

‘For me, I don’t believe a child molester is able to not be a child molester. The other crimes, maybe. I wouldn’t want to live near an arsonist or child molester, for sure and it would depend on the details of the murder for me to decide to live near a murderer.

Absolutely. They may have done some less than desirable things in their lives but they’re still people. I’m sure we’ve all done some things we wouldn’t like to admit, whether or not we’ve killed someone or bullied someone in our 2nd grade class. The things criminals have done seem like they’re a whole lot worse, but in God’s eyes, all sins are equally bad. We’re all human, we all do “bad” stuff, and we all need forgiven. They may be criminals, but they’re still people, just like you and me.

I’m sorry @likipie, but I don’t consider paedophiles, serial rapists and murderers to be ‘just like…me’.

No, convicted criminals are marked for life.

When filling out an application, there will always a time period that an ex-convict cannot account for, other to tell he was serving time in prison.

I agree that when a person finishes their time, that they should be forgiven. But, this is not the case. When workers discover this person is an ex-convict, they will rebel against working with this person for safety reason. And, who could blame them.

I have talked to many homeless people that are ex-convicts. They tell me that people will not hire them for the reason given above. One, told me that he worked on a moving van for a while. Some jewelry came missing and he was accused of the theft. He was terminated.

Society, as a whole, does not want to associate with ex-convicts. People are afraid for there children, as well as themselves. I guess I do not blame them.

For me, it would totally depend on the crime. Petty theft/robbery, arson, forging documents, etc… that would not bother me. Rape or pedophilia? I would spit on them every time I saw them. That’s not something I could forget or forgive.

Sometimes, yes.

Fuck rapists and child molesters though. They can all suck-start a shotgun for all I care.

Completely dependent on the crime.

Plenty of “crimes” are a joke.

I wouldn’t mind giving them a job. If they served their time and felt truly clean, I wouldn’t care. Perhaps give them a lower level job and see if they’re truly commited to becoming a better person and let them work their way up.

It depends on the crime one was convicted of. I think that sex crimes would be the toughest to make a comback from. Sex crimes vary though and not everybody that is convicted of them are guilty but nevertheless those people too will have a difficult time on the outside. As far as convicted (and really guilty) child molesters, pedophiles and rapists I have little mercy for them.

Drug related crimes have their own stigma that other crimes don’t carry (for some fucked up reason) that can haunt those convicted of these as well. For example drug offenses are the only crime that can keep a person from receiving a student loan for college. I don’t understand that one.