These are great questions. When I look at religious institutions (I'm thinking of the Catholic church, or the LDS church that I grew up in) there are formal way

These are great questions. When I look at religious institutions (I'm thinking of the Catholic church, or the LDS church that I grew up in) there are formal ways to achieve absolution. I wonder if we need a secular version of that, other than "prison time"? (And even "prison time" typically carries life-long stigma, rather than absolution).