Is that what Easterbrook is trying to say? Or, just that both are expendible in our throwaway commercial sports society? Such empathy! Such integrity! Such bean-counter morality! I'm a bit confoozed here.

I haven't heard an argument so compelling since the Chewbacca Defense.

content of this article aside....

PLEASE replace that picture of Vick with one where he is not wearing maroon and orange. His alleged actions to NOT exhibit those that make up the Hokie spirit.

Honestly, I think Vick is getting a raw deal.  First, everyone is innocent until proven guilty.  There is a rush to judgement on this case that I think is just ridiculous. Second, I think that the amount of prison time that the federal government is suggesting for this case is just ridiculous.  The last thing I heard was that the federal government wants to throw a RICO charge against Vick, with up to 20 years of possible prison time.  That's insane - you probably wouldn't get that much for killing or raping someone.  Mike Tyson certainly didn't get that much time for rape.  I really think most of us need to step back and get some perspective.  Dogfighting is wrong, but it's no worse (and certainly not much worse) than the amimal abuse that livestock is often subjected to here in the US.  It's sad, but that's the truth.  No one gets any jail time for that, and people want to give Vick 20 years for animal abuse and gambling - I think it's ridiculous.  The feds need to have more on Vick than they currently have for me to support the way they are handling it.  I've seen bullfighting in Spain, and if dogfighting wasn't (mostly) limited to poor, Black communities, it might not even be illegal.

I think we all really need to think hard about our criminal justice system.  Right now we have over 2 million people (out of 300 million) behind bars, mostly out of fear and ignorance.  In no other country in the world could Vick get this much prion time for animal abuse, especially without a prior record.  It's not right.

Most of the people in prison are only there because of fear and ignorance? OK, good lick proving that.

Dogfighting is mostly practiced in poor black communities? Wrong. It's a HUGE business with enormous amounts of money changing hands, and a LOT of white southerners do it.

The feds need to have more on Vick than they currently have? If every one of the defendants is pleading guilty, what do you base that on?

And as much of a sick, pathetic excuse of a human being I think Michael Vick is, I don't think he should get 20 years. I do think he should get at least 1 year, preferably 2 or 3 if he plea bargains.

And I know he's innocent until proven guilty, but give me a break. You don't just slip, fall down, and start a dogfighting ring. Dogfighting is a time-consuming hobby, this isn't some he said/she said incident outside a nightclub.

I meant to say luck, not lick.

he deserves a lot longer than a year.  The crimes he "alledgedly" committed were against man's best friend.  How sick is that?  To me, if what he's done is true, he's sick like a molester, a predator, a rapist, and even a murderer.  One year in jail doesn't seem nearly enough to me. 

Man's best friend....

Most people in the United States who are incarcerated are incarcerated because of criminal justice policies driven by fear and ignorance.  The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. 

http://en.wikipedia....

Our incarceration rate is almost SEVEN times that of Canada.  That's an amazing statistic, especially since we don't have a lower crime rate than our neighbors to the North, and our homicide rate is MUCH higher.  So, why do we put so many more people in prison, if we're not getting a lower crime rate for our troubles?  This is especially true since so many Blacks and Hispanics are incarcerated - 63% of those behind bars in the US are either Black or Hispanic (Blacks and Hispanics are 25% of the population)

http://www.hrw.org/b...

There are probably a lot of White southerners who dogfight, even though I've never met any (and I'm from the South - North Carolina originally).  It's associated with Blacks, though, and that affects how we think about dogfighting.

I think Vick is guilty - I do, but I think he's being treated unfairly.  Codefendents pleading guilty is certainly additional evidence against him, but only mean that he's probably guilty, and not certainly guilty.  Given the amount of prison time that the codefendents were facing, they might say anything to greatly lessen their prison time.  In the (unlikely) event that Vick is innocent, his codefendents wouldn't be the first people to say what the government wanted them to say in exchange for a lesser sentence.

Personally, I'm unconvinced that anyone should do prison time for dogfighting, or cockfighting for that matter.  I'm torn on the issue.  On one hand, I believe that the serious animal abuse of which Vick is accused is horrible and corrosive.  OTOH, I think we put WAY too many people in prison.  Also, we elevate the welfare of animals that we use as pets over ones that we use as food, and that's inconsistent.

I also think the Vick case shows a real, and unfortunate, divide between White progressives and minority progressives on criminal justice issues.  Blacks and Hispanics see a disproportionate number of our brethren behind bars for crimes that in other countries wouldn't lead to that much prison time.  White progressives often see justice and punishment in policies that don't fall on their communities. It's a real shame, and impedes trust and progress on a variety of progressive issues.  For more details, check out this AP article on the case:

http://sports.espn.g...