I don’t like to be negative and to think that people cannot change, but I think it is a rare case when someone decides to turn their life around, move in a different direction and actually takes the time and effort to make the change and stick with it.

I’ve always been an optimist, and I like to believe that people are basically good, and the rare few who enjoy hurting others will get what is coming to them, but every time I hear about someone hurting a child or murdering someone over a minuscule difference of opinion, it becomes harder and harder to see the good in the world.

In our justice system, it seems that the laws were written while banking on the fact that those convicted of a crime are going to leave incarceration a new person, ready and willing to change and be a better person. If you kill someone, you might end up in a cell for a while, but rape, child molestation and abuse, those are crimes that generally earn you far less time, and you’re free to try your hand again. I’m sure there are some cases when people see the error of their ways and decide to change, but in the case of sexual offenders, I think the change is more difficult than for other convicts and it is even harder to follow.