I just want to applaud the fairmindedness of this article, which neither exonerates nor condemns a man for something he did nine years ago and, more importantly, when he was only 18 years old. I spent several years working full-time to rehabilitate teenagers in gangs and charged (sometimes convicted) with criminal offenses, often violent ones. Some of them turned out to be dirtbags as adults. Many of them didn't, and I think that's in large part because they came to our program and got resources, support, and treatment. Some of them have become adults that you would be genuinely proud to know.There is probably a difference to most between saying "this person doesn't belong in prison" and saying "this person deserves to play Major League Baseball," especially because we want to send a message to hopeful young players that committing violence against someone who cannot defend themselves is an automatic ban from the league, but I think the most important thing is that all we think seriously about it, about all the operative circumstances, and about what justice looks like. We won't all have the same answer, but if we all make an honest effort to be thoughtful and fair about it, everyone will be better off.

0