This is how Vick makes it back to the NFL

[Muze]

It is incredible to me how animal abuse seems to be less important to some than football. Until the media (& many in society) start to recognize animals as beings with rights that must be respected (the right to not be tortured for one), animal abuse will continue. &, in many cases, animal abuse is just a step away from child abuse, etc.

[Typical_08]

We do as a society recognize that animals have rights, and I agree that some of the punishments do not fit the crimes. However, right now, the letter of the law states.

(2) Any person found guilty of a violation of this section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony and punished by incarceration not exceeding two (2) years or a fine of not more than fifteen thousand dollars (15,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Statistically, those convicted of a felony serve about 45% of the max, and a majority of people convicted of the same crime Vick was, end up having time served and the maximum fine. So he was in fact punished more harshly than a majority of those others that have been convicted of the same crime.

He will be getting out, will be a felon for life, and numerous other repercussions.

[DSGB]

Mike Vick who???? As a diehard falcons fan, formally a diehard mike vick fan, and former pit bull owner. I hope no one signs vick, i hope he gets stuck flippin burgers at the varsity. His jail time will never justify what he did to those dogs so i say dont let him play the sport he loves...

For the falcons its Matt Ryan time, who has the most completions in a playoff game by a rookie! Matt Ryan is a super bowl winning QB.

[wilomn]

Pro football is not a sport.

It's a business.

It's sole purpose is to generate income for the owners.

Silly people who think they play for the fans.

Someone will pick him up. He's got talent. Talent sells tickets. He's got notoriety, which also sells tickets.

Pro football is NOT about sportsmanship and setting good role models for our youths, it's about making just as much as you can just as fast as you can for as long as you can.

He'll play somewhere.

[Muze]

We do as a society recognize that animals have rights, and I agree that some of the punishments do not fit the crimes. However, right now, the letter of the law states.

(2) Any person found guilty of a violation of this section shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony and punished by incarceration not exceeding two (2) years or a fine of not more than fifteen thousand dollars (15,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Statistically, those convicted of a felony serve about 45% of the max, and a majority of people convicted of the same crime Vick was, end up having time served and the maximum fine. So he was in fact punished more harshly than a majority of those others that have been convicted of the same crime.

He will be getting out, will be a felon for life, and numerous other repercussions.

The problem here is that, while if you or I would have committed this crime, we would probably find it difficult to get a job anywhere, etc., This guy will jump right back into the limelight with an exorbitant salary. The fact that he is a convicted felon will probably not cause him any hardship. & the reason being that many do not seem to think that what he did should keep him from helping his team win. IMHO, this is ridiculous.

[scutechute]

He paid his debt by the penal code, but I don't think anything he does would erase the moral debt he's incurred by glorifying dog fighting. Tons of kids that idolized Vick now will boldly state that dog fighting isn't that bad.

Exactly

He has turned a new leaf in life, I think he should have every chance to succeed again. He has had everything taken away from him

Perhaps IF he has turned a new leaf in life would be a better way of phrasing it. As far as i know, and i may be very wrong, the only apology he's made about slaughtering and torturing animals is that circus style press-coference in which he read a letter that contained the words "im sorry." I'm not sure if that qualifies as "turning over a new leaf in life" in my opinion. But that's why we're talking about it.


"Let's assume he will leave federal prison rehabilitated in every way."
I graduated a couple years ago with a Criminal Justice Administration degree....definitely a "BS" degree in many ways (bachelor of science...and).
Anyhow, I can tell you that I had several professors, and several text books flat out stating that the current goal of our prison systems has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH REHABILITATION. I believe there's evidence to support just the opposite as a matter of fact, people come out even worse than when they went in!
All im trying to say is that this quote - the first sentence in the paragraph of assumptions - is asking us to "suspend all disbelieve" and swallow a huge assumption in order to follow the rest of the author's logic about how Vick should be re-instated in the NFL.

Plus HE IS A KICK BUT QB

I agree that he was pretty good a few years ago. However, in my opion, he wasn't such a great FOOTBALL PLAYER that the fact that he's a dispicable human being should be overlooked.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

[Muze]

Pro football is not a sport.

It's a business.

It's sole purpose is to generate income for the owners.

Silly people who think they play for the fans.

Someone will pick him up. He's got talent. Talent sells tickets. He's got notoriety, which also sells tickets.

Pro football is NOT about sportsmanship and setting good role models for our youths, it's about making just as much as you can just as fast as you can for as long as you can.

He'll play somewhere.

Absolutely true. After all, some of them have raped, abused their spouses, etc., and they to go right back and play. I should not expect any different in this case.

[Earl]

Would you think that a normal person had been punished enough for receiving the same punishment?

Here is my thing. He received punishment within the law. If we do not like the punishment the law dishes out, then we are the ones that are responsible for getting the punishment for that crime changed.

Calling for a punishment that is more strict for one person, but not another who committed the same crime would be akin to violating his eighth amendment rights.

He is not going to be given anything back. I believe that he is going to have to work twice as hard as before to get the "golden life" back.

I like the idea of second chances, benefit of the doubt and understanding, forgiveness, so on and so forth and I like the idea that they should be earned even more.

When Vick was being accused of his crimes, and even after he was indicted, he kept claiming he was innocent. It was only when it became clear he would never win a trial and that he would serve less time in jail did he finally say he was guilty. I never got the impression that he was actually sorry or even understood how bad his crimes really were.

None the less I'm sure he'll get his chance to play.

[DSGB]

Well he was always very injury prone when he was playing, so lets hope karma comes around and give a career ending injury.

[Typical_08]

The problem here is that, while if you or I would have committed this crime, we would probably find it difficult to get a job anywhere, etc., This guy will jump right back into the limelight with an exorbitant salary. The fact that he is a convicted felon will probably not cause him any hardship. & the reason being that many do not seem to think that what he did should keep him from helping his team win. IMHO, this is ridiculous.

I agree that he will likely find it easier to find work in the now. But later on down the line he will not. But that is beside the point, in the now he will suffer less of the after effects in terms of employment. But by the law, you can not take that into account with terms of punishment. And we would be opening up a can of worms if we required certain individuals be punished more harshly than the law allows for the common person.

Now, while he was sentenced to 23 months. The recommended sentencing was 12. I would like to see him do all 23 months. But even if that does not happen, he was punished in accordance with current laws, and has already received a harsher punishment than many others that have done the same exact thing.

He will still have lost his right to vote, the right to keep and bear arms, and several other things. This may not sound like much, but to a person like me, that is worse than under two years in prison, or loosing a multi million dollar contract. But that is probably not the case for him.