Remember how you were told to picture yourself as a judge with a lot to lose in the beginning? Let’s come back to that. You were asked if you were willing to sentence the last of the Accused to death or free them at the cost of your reputation. Think back to John, Parris, and Abigail all of these characters made choices that would protect themselves and it harmed them rather than help them. So if you had sentenced these people to death yes you would have kept your reputation but only for a short amount of time. Eventually everyone in your town would realize that it was wrong and you would be shunned and casted out. But if you had let them live you would have ruined your reputation but people would eventually forgive you for your mercy. So maybe