Chameleon Magazine

 🧽⚖️David Lammy, the new Justice Secretary, is making waves — or maybe just muddying already stormy waters — with his proposal to wipe childhood criminal records. The idea? A fresh start. A clean break. A society that doesn’t chain people forever to the worst decisions of their youth. Noble, right?

But here’s the problem: where does the wiping stop? Because if you’re scrubbing away minor thefts or playground punch-ups, fine. But when the eraser starts gliding over drug dealing, harassment — or worse, like rape? Now we’re not talking about redemption. We’re talking about erasure of justice.

🧨 Scrubbing the Past or Sanitising the Present?

Lammy’s plan, in theory, is about rehabilitation, especially for those who made mistakes before their brains were even finished growing. Society’s obsession with punishment over reform has left too many with criminal records for crimes committed at 14 that still haunt them at 40.

But the minute we drift into the territory of wiping serious offences — especially violent or sexual crimes — we enter an ethical minefield. If someone has committed rape, served a reduced sentence, and then has their record wiped, where is the justice for the victim? Is their trauma supposed to just expire along with the file?

Let’s be brutally clear: forgiveness is not the same as forgetfulness. We can support rehabilitation and still demand transparency. Because once you start hiding serious offences from the public record, you’re not building a just society — you’re building a time bomb, set to detonate the next time an untraceable offender reoffends.

The real kicker? The public only finds out when it’s too late. And victims? They get the double blow: first, the trauma of the crime — and then the quiet horror of watching the system pretend it never happened.

Redemption should be possible. But so should accountability. And there’s no justice in quietly sweeping away violent crimes like they were teenage pranks.

🚨 Challenges🚨

Are we okay with this? Are we really ready to erase records of serious, violent crimes in the name of “starting fresh”? Or is this another well-meaning idea that collapses under the weight of real-world consequences? We want to hear what you think — not just on social media. Go deep. Be honest. And drop it in the blog comments. 💬💣

👇 Hit comment, hit like, hit share — and let us know: is this policy progress, or a betrayal wrapped in reform?

The best comments will be featured in the next issue of the magazine. 📝🔥