Critics say that the UK requires an individual to disclose their criminal records history too readily without taking into account mitigating circumstances such as age at the time of offence, risk of reoffending and seriousness of the offence. Image: Pixabay/Creative Commons CC0.
The finale of the fourth season of the AMC drama Better Call Saul aired last week. For those not in the know, Better Call Saul is the prequel series to the massively popular drama, Breaking Bad. It tells the origin story of Saul Goodman, then known as Jimmy McGill, a morally conflicted lawyer with a history of criminal offending and a complex relationship with his upstanding brother, Chuck.
Simmering beneath the surface of this story, for nearly 40 hours of programming, has been a debate about offending, rehabilitation and our perception of people who have offended. For a brief moment in last week’s finale this boiled over into full view as we met Kristy Esposito, a high school student who applies for a scholarship funded by Hamlin Hamlin McGill, the prestigious law firm where Jimmy’s brother practiced. Jimmy, for reasons that aren’t relevant here, is a panellist for the scholarship interviews.
