drpvn t1_j14g2je wrote on December 21, 2022 at 4:28 PM

Reply to comment by BiblioPhil in New York City Unveils Gate of the Exonerated in Central Park Honoring Wrongly Convicted People by lifandigoosogn

This is the flowchart I use to determine my position on every issue.

BiblioPhil t1_j14n731 wrote on December 21, 2022 at 5:14 PM

The point is that supporting both is contradictory, yet many people do it. Because their issue with commemorating the exonerated people isn't that they were flawed individuals. It's something else.

drpvn t1_j14p7zu wrote on December 21, 2022 at 5:27 PM

I’m not a mind reader. My issue with honoring these five guys in particular—and there’s a gigantic difference between, on the one hand, apologizing to them on behalf of the city and state, paying them compensation, and condemning the miscarriage of justice that happened, and, on the other hand, honoring them—is that all the information I have strongly suggests that these guys were absolute pieces of shit, at least as teenagers.

What Trump voters think about this just doesn’t enter into my mind at all. Not every issue needs to be a fight among two warring factions for control over an overarching narrative. But that’s just me.

If Mark Wahlberg were unjustly convicted of rape and then exonerated, I would still think he was a piece of shit.

Taking a step back, though, this debate shouldn’t really be about these guys in particular. The gate doesn’t honor them specifically. It’s about people who have been exonerated. But it’s hard to separate them from the larger issue given that they always show up as the poster boys.