Like clockwork, the same sports argument always seems to rear its head around this time of year. With football back in swing and rivalries again renewed, everybody has an opinion on who is the best and who will be the champion. Amongst my friends there is often an argument regarding Michael Vick, Donté Stallworth and all the other players who have had run-ins with the law and are allowed to continue to play despite their sordid pasts.
This is America and we are a forgiving nation, even to those who seem to commit some of the most heinous crimes. More and more often, it seems the people committing the crimes are those in a position of celebrity, be it in sports or entertainment.
Just the other day, a friend and I began discussing the Donté Stallworth/Michael Vick controversies. “Why is it,” my friend asked, “that Donté Stallworth can kill a man and get thirty days in jail but Michael Vick kills some dogs and has to spend two years in prison?”
As an animal lover, cruelty to animals is one of the worst possible crimes in my eyes. Here you have individuals who knowingly abuse and mistreat helpless and defenseless animals for the purpose of profit or fun.
Michael Vick apologized for his criminal dog fighting ring and served 23 months in federal prison, and whether or not he is really sorry for what he did is something only he can know.
What I do know is that in the eyes of the law he has served his time and repaid his debt to society, and he is currently enjoying an epic rebirth as a star quarterback in the National Football League. I find his actions despicable and I don’t personally forgive him for what he did because I think someone who is cruel to animals has deep underlying problems, but again, he served his time and everyone deserves a second chance.
In the case of Donté Stallworth, things get trickier, but ultimately I actually tend to find Stallworth less of a despicable person than I do Vick, even though Stallworth killed another human being.
On March 14, 2009, Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian in Miami Beach, Fl., while driving to get some food. Stallworth admitted to drinking the previous night but didn’t think he was still drunk when he got behind the wheel the next morning — evidence later showed that he was still legally intoxicated and obviously should not have been driving.
The man Stallworth killed was a 59-year-old named Mario Reyes who was not in a crosswalk as he attempted to cross the busy street. Stallworth claimed to have flashed his lights at the man to warn him but it was too late. Stallworth was convicted of driving-under-the-influence and of second-degree manslaughter, and ended up serving 30 days in jail, as well as a litany of other punishments, including two years of house arrest and eight years of probation.
So why was Stallworth’s sentence so lenient, compared to Vick’s two years of hard time?
The answer in my eyes is simply that Stallworth’s crime was an unfortunate accident while Vick’s was premeditated. I’m not trying to make excuses for Stallworth and I think drunk driving is a disgusting thing, but Stallworth did not mean to cause harm to the victim. Sadly, Reyes was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Put simply, Stallworth’s and Vick’s crimes are not comparable. What is comparable, however, is the fact that both men have had past transgressions and have done what was demanded of them to redeem themselves. They are both scummy people in general, no doubt, but justice was ultimately served, whether we agree with it or not.
Loss of life is loss of life, whether it is an animal or a human being, and each case deserves to be looked at and judged separately.
Gerry Wachovsky is a graduate student and columnist for the Daily 49er.
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