system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: People shouldn’t be judged by something they did 35 years ago. People can change.

There have been a number of instances recently where people have behaved poorly many years ago and have been crucified in the media.  Where they have thought to have committed a crime then they should be innocent until proven guilty.  A case can be brought forward and tested in a court.

Where someone has done something considered objectionable in today’s society like wear blackface or said something offensive I believe they shouldn’t be judged by today’s standards.  I also think people can grow as a person.  You can’t judge a 55 year old by their actions as a 20 year old.

EDIT:  Thanks everyone for giving me plenty to think about and I think my view has been changed somewhat. 

Note I was excluding illegal acts from this post and only talking about statements or poor taste actions.

I think the key points I’ve taken that I now agree with are:
1. Elected officials should be held to higher standards than regular people.  
2. It’s not just what they say or did in the past but what evidence there is that they have changed.
3. Calling out these actions now and making it clear it’s unacceptable helps society as a whole so there’s a focus on the greater good rather than the individual.
gpt
This viewpoint keeps coming up, and yes, people can change. Yes, you should consider 35yo events in the current standards of the time it was taken. Washington had slaves.

But old events *are important* if they show a pattern of abuse, or help paint a complete picture of the person which includes many recent events. Hiding abuse better doesn't mean the person is not abusive. Old events can actually be helpful, as a NDU might actually make a better counselor if he had abused drugs in the past, both for his own knowledge and the respect of those counseled.

Lastly, some old events are not excusable. If Cosby had stopped raping in the 80s, that doesn't give him a pass for all the drugging and raping previously. But contrast surreptitious drugging to that of women taking drugs voluntarily and getting raped in the 70s -- by standards of the day, that would unlikely be considered rape (because the times were backward -- in 2019 we've evolved from 50 years ago just like they did in 1919, when ~50 years previously some people had slaves).