Finally, you are free to imagine any scenario you like for the paths of these bracelets into my hands over the course of three years, but you weren’t there. And I must warn you that leading your ethics with your imagination (consistently) will lead you to a paralysis in which no consequential action is possible.

It’s easy to find evidence of unfortunate people comprising themselves in the public sphere. Documenting and submitting that to the hyper-public permanent record of the Internet (plus your uninformed take) is a different matter with distinct consequences.

Too bad real people need to keep getting damaged for us to continue this theoretical discussion about where to draw a line that basic measures of empathy and accountability ought to dictate.

It is problematic to refer to any of these people as “petty criminals” and could open you up to a defamation action if any of these individuals have not been convicted of a crime.

It also fails to account for the fact that the bracelets COULD have been thrown away originally and ended up on the street any number of ways.

And, of course, aside from the legal implications, there are the moral ones. It’s easy to glibly call people criminals simply because you found their prison bracelet on the ground, but it’s pretty shitty to post all of this stuff online without getting consent to do so. Why not pick on a portion of society a little less downtrodden?

Pretty unique collection!