OCR Text |
Show Should Have His Freedom Twenty -two years ago, as a boy of sixteen, he escaped from a reformatory, re-formatory, where he had been sent for burglary. Today, ini Cleveland, Ohio, he is a business man, with a clean record, a wife and two children. chil-dren. Police say he has never been in trouble and his family know nothing of his past mistake. Scmehow, Cleveland detectives discovered the man's buried secret. They are sympathetic, thinking the man has earned the right to live fresd of the past and have advised authorities in another State to "forget about it." What should the authorities do? Here is a man who violated the law and flouted its punishment. Should he be exposed and required to pay the penalty of his wrongdoing? wrong-doing? Should his wife and children chil-dren suffer today through his humiliation hu-miliation and their shame? Does the law require in its majesty that the crime cf youth must be paid for in mature years? The purpose of punishment, whether ore realizes it or not, is the protection of society and, 1 1 possible, tha reiorm of the incii , vidual. Obviously, society hardl; , needs protection against this heai cf a family, with years of straigh living to testify for him and provi his real reform. Having accomp lished its purpese without inflict ing a penalty, when the punishment punish-ment was just, the law is dubiously served when zealous officials, reading read-ing only the wording of statutes rake up ancient wrongs as an excuse ex-cuse for persecution of one whe 'as, it seems, made good. |