A storm of comments swirled around a story about teen murder in the New York Times last weekend. The parents of a young woman named Ann forgave her boyfriend, Conor, for murdering her. Andy and Kate Grosmaire had loved Conor before he killed Ann, their youngest daughter. But they said they did not so much forgive him for his sake as for their own, to free themselves from being imprisoned in hate and anger, and to follow the teachings of Christ (they are committed Catholics).
What shocked many readers, though, was that they sought a " restorative justice ”
process, in which Conor, the two sets of parents and other involved
individuals met in a circle with the prosecutor and bared their souls to
one another – and thereby succeeded in persuading the prosecutor to
give Conor a lower sentence than he would otherwise have received.
Conor is white, some readers commented, believing that could never have
happened to a person of color. It’s unfair and arbitrary, others said:
no one’s sentence should be determined by how forgiving or angry their
victims’ families are. Forgiveness is a private spiritual matter.
Sentencing should to be unemotional and consistent.
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