Kill or harm a dog and you get two years. Kill a human being — a pedestrian, at that — and you could just possibly get less than a month in jail.
Of course, a conviction is never simple. We all know it’s judged on a case-by-case basis and the series of circumstances. Unfortunately, it seems your likeability, your ability to hire the best lawyers and, it seems in the case of Stallworth, being able to pay a large out-of-court settlement to the victim’s family also can influence the outcome of your verdict.
But … getting back to the dog and human angle.
There’s no question that Michael Vicks’ treatment of the dogs involved in his scheme was wrong and gruesome. Though I don’t enjoy having a ball of fur underfoot or in my bed, it was still heartbreaking to see the vicious treatment of the dogs. That can only mean that it was understandable why a whole lot of pet lovers were distraught and outraged over the news.
More than two years later, people are still debating whether Vicks is really remorseful about his crime.
But then there’s Mario Reyes: A husband who was married for 20 years, the father of a 15-year-old daughter and a baseball fan. Reyes was crossing the street to get to a bus when he was hit by Stallworth’s car.
Maybe it’s me … but I haven’t heard a whole lot of outrage over the drunk driving accident that took Reyes’ life.
But whatever the reason for the general public’s unbalanced outrage over the life of a dog compared to the life of a human, you’d think that the scales of justice would tilt more in favor of the loss of a human life.
What are your thoughts? Should Stallworth have been sent to a slammer a lot longer than Vicks?
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by Shari Scales Finnell
1 comments:
The question should also be this: why does our love of sports override that scales of justice. Many Americans idolize sports players so much they that are willing to negate both of these crimes. These men are a (or supposed to be) an example to youth. What is this poor turn of justice telling youth who are probe to a life of crime.
When it comes to the difference between these crimes. The difference is this: It was Stallworth's drunken behavior behind the wheel of an automobile that killed the pedestrian. It was Michael Vick's bare hands and a sober mind that killed those dogs. His bare hands! He felt the animal struggle. He felt the last gasp of air escape from the animal as it struggled to free itself and he watched it die at his own bare hands. While both crimes are severe, the differnce between then is enormous. Michael Vick sould never walk this earth a free man again. Stallworth stands a chance of rehabilitation through alcohol counseling. Michael Vick's barbaric acts are sober and sick mind and brute strength. If he's capable of doing this to a dog or any animal then he's capable of doing this to another human being.
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