The application form called him a felon and left one line to explain a decade of work. (felon: felony offender, serious offender) The candidate had learned to restore old tiles during rehabilitation. (rehabilitation: restoration, recovery, renewal) His references included the foreman who had watched him rehabilitate the east wing of the town hall. (rehabilitate: restore, recondition, reinstate) The panel's rule excluded him automatically. The printed reason was the risk of recidivism. (recidivism: reoffending, repeat offending, criminal relapse)
A retired magistrate asked what the rule was meant to deter. (deter: discourage, dissuade, inhibit) A deterrent that barred every applicant forever offered no incentive to improve. (deterrent: disincentive, discouragement, obstacle) A punitive sentence had already been served. (punitive: penal, punishing, punitory) If the committee held that every tile he laid would be substandard, it could test his workmanship. (substandard: inferior, inadequate, deficient) It could hardly call his hands irredeemable on the strength of a file. (irredeemable: irreclaimable, unreformable, hopeless)
They gave him a cracked panel and watched him sort the fragments. To everyone's embarrassment the magistrate knocked a piece onto the floor. The candidate picked it up, matched it neatly and closed the seam. He left his own mistakes in the written account of his work. When the panel rewrote the form, it gave applicants more than a single line.