On Friday, June 18, the Oregonian printed an essay by Emanuel Rose, rabbi of Temple Beth Israel and of Neil Goldschmidt. Rabbi Rose said that Oregonians have discussed Goldschmidt's story long enough, and it is time to move on and put it behind. Goldschmidt, he says, has suffered enough from his public humiliation.
On rereading Rabbi Rose's essay, I find that I agree with more of it than I did when I first read it on June 18. But the Rabbi has missed one important reason for our keeping Goldschmidt's story in mind.
The three basic purposes of imprisonment are often described as (1) preventing the criminal from reoffending, because the criminal won't reoffend while in prison, (2) reforming the criminal so that when released, he will be less likely to reoffend, and (3) deterring others from committing the same crime, by using the criminal's punishment as an example of bad consequences.
One consequence of keeping Goldschmidt's disgrace in mind is that -- perhaps -- other men with the same opportunity to exploit an underage girl will consider his downfall before they act. Goldschmidt's public shame is a powerful deterrent to others. Let's keep that lesson fresh.