When Should Law Forgive?

July 15, 2019
Minow (Between Vengeance and Forgiveness), former dean of Harvard Law School, offers a thoughtful and well-reasoned treatise on forgiveness as an alternative to traditional legal remedies. She begins with the question of forgiving youth, specifically child soldiers in Africa and American gang members. Minow explores a number of perspectives, considering young offenders’ individual responsibility and the knowledge that they are also victims who have often been coerced, seduced, or kidnapped. Taking as a legitimate goal the opportunity for young offenders to have a constructive future, she advocates for the development of separate juvenile justice systems, restorative justice mechanisms, and truth commissions. In a similar vein, she argues that forgiving unmanageable debt loads owed by governments and individuals alike can yield better economic results than exacting payment at any cost, despite the risk that it could make some consumers act recklessly. On the topic of amnesty, she weighs the societal gains and risks, using as examples the amnesty for Vietnam draft avoiders and Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon. Though her theories are abstract in some ways, she connects them to topical subjects including presidential self-pardons, immigration, and the legalization of marijuana. Minow’s compassionate, knowledgeable, and nuanced examination of the gains that may follow policies that substitute forgiveness for rigid legal remedies is groundbreaking and should provide a useful framework for future policy makers.