Justice

being the culturally aware and relavant guy that i am, i have been keeping up with this whole “donte-stallworth-dui-vehicular-manslaughter” case.  if you don’t know what it’s all about, you can check it out here.

i know it’s an incredibly complicated issue.  concepts such as intent, negligence, fault, liability, civil suit, culpability, plea agreement, financial settlements, proximate cause, first offense, due process…and the like…are all part of this drama.  to a greater or lesser degree…race, wealth, and public perception play a role, also.

but here’s my simple take on it this afternoon:

donte stallworth: spends the night drinking in swanky miami-dade clubs, just after he signs a $4.5 contract extension with the cincinnati bengals.  while driving at twice the legal limit, he hits and kills a man who was jaywalking (a familyguy, rushing to catch a bus home from work).

punishment?  30 days in jail…actually, only 24 will be spent.  two years “house arrest” and eight years probation.  a lifetime loss of his driver’s license (could be restated within five years).  a privately negotiated financial settlement with the victim’s family.

nfl people expect that he will be playing this year…with a possible one or two game suspension.

i know it’s complicated.  i know that he will face a lifetime of psychological and emotional scars.  i know that he has showed remorse and a willingness to cooperate with authorities.  i know that the victim’s family just want to move on and put the whole thing behind them.

i know.  i know.  but let me contrast.

mike vick: finances and participates in an illegal dog-fighting operation.  it was heinous, calloused, greedy, heartless, mean, cruel, thoughtless, brutal…you name it!  he lied.  he covered.  he thought he was above the law.  he lived below basic morality.

in his culture, though, it was deemed acceptable.

punishment?  he was sentenced to 23 months in jail and three years probation.  because of the whole episode, most experts agree that he will have lost well over $140 million in salary, real estate, endorsements and penalities.

his sentence has been officially served and he is now eligible to be reinstated to the nfl and could begin playing again this fall…assuming someone wants him.

now…at the risk of coming across as a heartless, animal-hater…which i am not (in spite of the brainless, annoying little rodent-dogs that i am an owner of)…i want to offer this observation:

i believe that mike vick received a “just” sentence for his crime.  there are some days i think it was too harsh.  there are other days i think it was fair and proper.  all in all, he lost two years of his life.  it cost him his financial empire.  it probably cost him his football legacy and the most productive years of his playing career.  maybe, just maybe, he has learned lessons that will make him a better person.  maybe it was truly a come to jesus episode in his life.  maybe.

my problem is not with mike vick.  my problem is that donte stallworth gets drunk, kills an guy, gets 24 days in jail, and is able to “plea bargain” his way out of any further jail time.  yeah, i know there are other penalties for his crimes, but he will basically go on with his life.

today, this is what it looks like to me:

kill dogs.  go to jail for two years.kill a human being.  go to jail for two months.

doesn’t seem like justice to this guy…