The Open Forum Don’t hold mistakes against teens (within reason)

Now we know Krista Kafer will never be nominated for the Supreme Court. But to her point, I do think there can be some dangers to thinking that stupid actions and poor choices as teenagers should be held against individuals into adulthood — poor choices is how one becomes a better adult.

But, there are some things to consider with this situation.

First, the complaint against Kavanaugh is assault ... not a minor issue. Then there are the substantial background issues — first the obvious fact of a stolen Supreme Court seat by the Republicans last year — denying a vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee.

And of course there is the man who nominated Kavanaugh. Trump has created a poisoned atmosphere of abuse of power, abuse of women, abuse of opposition ... this is the foundation that this nomination is built upon.

In this Era of President DonaldTrump, it’s no wonder that this nomination has gotten ugly. If it had not been Kavanaugh’s teenage years, it likely would have been something else.

Krista Kafer’s column in Friday’s Denver Post on politicizing adolescence merely confirms my belief that she is your best opinion writer. She is consistently insightful, intelligent and sensible without ever resorting to hyperbole.

Krista Kafer is right to point out that we should and do treat teenagers differently under the law than adults due to teens’ underdeveloped capacities. But that doesn’t mean they are completely absolved either. In the case of Brett Kavanuagh, if the accusations against him are true, we can still judge him with consideration of his age at the time of his behavior. More importantly, if the accusations are true, we can also judge him as a fiftythreeyearold supreme court nominee who has lied to us.