The flaw in your argument is defining people by what they have done, and turning them into a one-dimensional “status”: he’s a drug dealer, a thug, a drunk, and so on.

Long ago, the United States Supreme Court struck down status offenses as unconstitutional. The essence of American criminal law is to punish people for specific actions, not for who they are. That’s not to say the criminal justice system hasn’t been perverted by racists. It has.

I’m not a religious person, as you seem to be, but if there is a God, I imagine that god must see the whole person — the child in every adult, each person’s hopes, dreams, fears. We are all worthy of respect and fair treatment, no matter our past.