The power of forgiveness in a day and time of resentment.

Crimes and violations of regulations require abuse, and our legal system is set up to punish, but imagine if the system was recalibrated to also weigh grounds for forgiveness? Imagine if something like bankruptcy-a fresh start for debtors-were open to people convicted of crimes? Martha Minow explores the complicated intersection of regulations, justice, and forgiveness, requesting whether the laws should encourage visitors to forgive, so when about When Should Laws Forgive? courts, open public officials, and particular laws should forgive.

Who has the to forgive? Who ought to be forgiven? And under what terms? Minow tackles these foundational problems by exploring three questions:

– What will the international response to kid soldiers show us about the legal treatment of juvenile offenders in the US?

– Why will be the laws surrounding corporate personal debt more forgiving than those regulating American college student and personal debt, and sovereign debt in the developing world?

– When do law’s equipment of forgiveness, amnesties, and pardons strengthen justice, tranquility, and democracy (think South Africa), and when do they undermine law’s promise of fairness (believe Joe Arpaio)?