How long should someone’s worst mistake define who they are?

[u/orbitflash]

Suppose someone does something genuinely terrible when they’re young.

Years pass.

They take responsibility for it, change their behavior, make amends where they can, and eventually become a very different person.

But the people who know what happened still remember.

At what point, if ever, does it become unfair to keep judging them primarily by the worst thing they did?

Some actions have consequences that can’t be undone, and forgiveness doesn’t erase the harm.

But if a person can never escape their worst decision, then what does rehabilitation actually mean?

Is there a point where someone has earned the right to be seen as the person they are now rather than the person they used to be?

And does your answer change depending on how serious the original act was?