My long-suffering editor really likes it when I write on strange and unusual topics (Ed: no, not so much…) and especially when I find ways to introduce obtuse political theory into today’s arguments (Ed: no, no, no!). A recent Colorado Politics story has inspired me to write about juvenile inmates in the prison system, Aristotle, and state Sen. Pete Lee. (Ed: I have no idea where this is going…)

The story tells the tale of juvenile inmates around the country, including here in Colorado, who were convicted of crimes as minors and were given life without parole sentences. It seems decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in several cases resulted in the banning of life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders. As a result, roughly 2,600 juvenile life-without-parole offenders were given a path toward freedom. The court’s rulings did not mean instant releases for anyone, and only a portion of those cases have worked their way through the system. In addition to the legal process, some governors have used their executive powers to grant clemency. Here in Colorado, then-Gov. Hickenlooper did so for inmate Curtis Brooks, who was 15 when he was convicted of a violent crime. Brooks had served 24 years in prison at the time of his release.

I can image what you are thinking when you muse over cases like this. You are wondering what Aristotle would have to say, am I right? (Ed: likely, no) Aristotle said lots of things about lots of subjects. Some things he got right and others he got wrong (for example, the purpose of the brain is not, in fact, to cool the blood). But one Aristotelian thought that might be helpful here is that justice is when we treat the same as the same, and different as different. That basically means that to achieve true justice, you need not compare apples and oranges. Not too many people would argue that a 4-year-old who found a loaded gun and shot another kid should go to jail for the rest of his life. Similarly, a 60-year-old would be held fully accountable for a similar crime. As Aristotle saw things, you treat adults like other adults, but you treat children differently.

And this is where Sen. Lee comes in. I first met Pete back in my own congressional run in 2008. I know and like Pete very much. In fact, it’s rather hard to meet him and not like him. Pete’s been working very hard as an elected official, first in the state House and now in the Senate. And all that time one of Pete’s major focuses has been on restorative justice. Simply put, RJ is the notion of helping inmates understand the impact of their crimes by meeting with their victims and (ultimately) understanding the damage they have done, not just in terms of, say, a stolen car, but also in terms of the shock and dread that their crime caused their victims. There’s much more to it, and Pete can tell you about it, but the bottom line is that RJ efforts help criminals, and I’d think especially juvenile offenders, more fully understand the full impact of their crimes. Thus, RJ treats these offenders in a very Aristotelian manner. I bet Pete didn’t even know he was channeling Aristotle, eh?

I fully understand the utility of life without parole. Take for example the Manson family, now 50 years past. The killers got life with no option for parole, and they deserved it. It was just and justice. Several of them have been model prisoners, and have truly been rehabilitated, but since they were adults when they committed their crimes, they should stay locked up forever.

But kids are different. Science tells us that the human brain is not fully developed until roughly the age of 25 (or in my case, I’m guessing mid-80s). Thus, juvenile offenders may truly not grasp the enormity of their actions, which implies that they should not have life sentences with no parole, unless your goal is revenge and not rehabilitation.

I think Pete Lee has it right. There needs to be a system of punishment for juvenile offenders, but there should also be a path forward that doesn’t end with them dying of old age in prison. Justice simply means different things for differently aged criminals. It may feel good to lock people up and “throw away the key” but that is not justice, it’s vengeance. And that’s not the American way.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.