<i>&gt; paid debt to society</i><p>Since society is not actually an entity that can be paid anything, it&#x27;s not surprising that <i>individuals</i> want to treat ex-cons unfairly.<p>I think we should scrap the notion of &quot;paying your debt to society&quot; altogether and instead focus on making victims whole. As it stands, victims of crime get minimal remuneration[1], and it varies by state. It&#x27;s not the criminal who pays the victim, it&#x27;s the taxpayer. And then the taxpayer gets to pay for the prison term as well.<p>[1]: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.victimsofcrime.org&#x2F;help-for-crime-victims&#x2F;get-help-bulletins-for-crime-victims&#x2F;crime-victim-compensation" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.victimsofcrime.org&#x2F;help-for-crime-victims&#x2F;get-hel...</a>