When outrage dictates punishment

The other day, I was taken aback seeing Anna Delvey—an actual convicted felon—on Dancing with the Stars, donning a bedazzled ankle monitor (she’s fighting against deportation from the U.S.). Delvey conned individuals and businesses out of more than $200,000, showing little remorse, yet she’s become a media sensation with a Netflix show, podcast, and now, a spotlight on a prime-time TV show.

But this isn’t really about Delvey. It’s a broader issue: people who have committed real crimes, causing tangible harm, somehow get welcomed back into the fold. From fraudsters (like the so-called Wolf of Wall Street) to gangsters, and even convicted rapists like Mike Tyson or Roman Polanski (who fled from justice), they often seem to receive a path to redemption that’s out of reach for others. Especially those whose “crime” wasn’t violence, but merely saying the wrong thing.