Three Players, Three Crimes, Three Very Different Punishments

Plaxico Burress was just sentenced to two years in prison for pleading guilty to a weapons charge. Now, does the punishment really fit the crime here? Yes, I understand somebody could have gotten hurt by this guy carry around a loaded weapon he did not know how to handle, and yes he should have a permit to carry around the weapon, but does he really deserve two years in prison?

When they say does the punishment fit the crime, the past two years a few crimes have hit the headlines involving NFL players. First, the more recent.

Donte Stallworth was driving under the influence of alcohol after a night of partying with some friends. On his way home he struck and killed a man with his vehicle. His lawyer and himself first tried to blame the victim, saying he was not in the crosswalk. Unlike Plaxico this man did not try to own up to his mistake in killing a man.

But what does Donte Stallworth receive as punishment? What seems like a damn slap on the hand. He serves 24 days in jail, not prison but jail, he gets his driver's licence taken away from him for life (that shouldn't matter, I'm sure he is wealthy enough to afford a driver to drive him around), and last but not least he pays the family an undisclosed amount of money.

Before we come to a conclusion of this all, let's take a look at one more crime; the one that made most of the headlines and seemed to have the biggest impact, that of Michael Vick. Vick bank rolled a dog fighting ring. He was punished by being put in prison for 18 months, and was released by his NFL team the Falcons. He filed for bankrupcy, he lost his houses, he lost his sponsorships, he lost his fan base, he seemed to lose the most.

Now, looking at all three of these crimes, can we say that all the punishments fit the crime? By no means am I saying that any of these crimes were not severe, they were all crimes, but in one of them a man killed another man, and he received the least severe punishment. Stallworth's was BY FAR the most severe crime. To take another man's life and only receive 24 days in prison. What does that say about our legal system here in the U.S.

Could it be maybe that Vick and Burress were of higher caliber players then Stallworth? Or could it have been that the family of the man that was killed by Stallworth didn't care about the man, that money that was payed to them by Stallworth was enough to make up for taking the man's life?

I want you to tell me, out of all three of these crimes, which one really fits the punishment. Think America, this is what our legal system shows us. That if you have enough money you can get away with certain things. Thank you Uncle Sam.