FREE PLAXICO!
Posted by drocolate on August 26th, 2009
Forgive me for turning my back on the economy for a second (it’s not like it’s the first time), but I need to get something off my chest.
Plaxico Burress, former wide receiver for the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, is going to begin a two-year prison sentence at the end of next month. He will be going away for carrying an unlicensed firearm into a night club and accidentally shooting himself with said firearm in New York City last year.
My beef is not with the claims that Plaxico broke the law or that he is an idiot. I agree completely on both counts. He never should have had that gun tucked into his sweatpants (wtf?) in the first place, and he definitely deserved to get punished for the whole thing. The thing that I’ve got a problem with is the way that that punishment is being doled out.
Two years in prison for carrying an unlicensed gun and accidentally shooting yourself? That doesn’t seem right. Prison should be for violent criminals and habitual offenders. Not idiots. If we start filling our already-overcrowded prisons with people who are simply stupid, we’ll be in a lot of trouble.
It just doesn’t make sense.
Give him a huge fine, kick him out of the NFL, make him do a shit ton of community service and put him on probation for the next decade. Anything but an extended prison sentence just seems more appropriate here. Hell, even a short stint in the slammer seems fitting, but two years? And, as it stands right now he won’t be eligible for early release until 20 months into his sentence so he won’t be doing the typical celebrity prison dash.
It just doesn’t make sense.
And what about people like Chris Brown, who was sentenced this week to five years probation for beating the shit out Rihanna? No jail time for him. Or fellow NFLer Donte Stallworth, who killed a guy with his car? He got a tiny jail sentence (24 days) and house arrest. Yet for some reason a dude who accidentally shoots himself is sent off to jail for two years. Think about it like this: Plaxico is getting a similar sentence to Michael Vick, and Vick resided over and funded an entire dog fighting ring.
It just doesn’t make sense.
And to make matters worse, Plaxico’s wife is going to be giving birth to a baby girl in November and Plaxico will ne nowhere in sight because he’ll be occupying a cell in the newly minted “stupid people wing” at some prison somewhere.
It just doesn’t make sense.
Let me say again that I’m not trying to throw any praise on Plaxico Burress. I think he’s an idiot and as a Dallas Cowboys fan I’ve spent a lot of time rooting directly against him in his playing career. But none of that should have any bearing on whether or not he is being fairly sentenced, and in my opinion he is not so I say FREE PLAXICO.
And I encourage all of you to say the same.
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Download your FREE PLAXICO poster HERE. And, as always, feel free to comment.
Tags: justice, law, Plaxico Burress, sports
As a white American, I’m for jailing as many black men as possible.
Hey Surly, I think they have a line of trading cards on this site you’d be PERFECT for!
I agree. 2 years for this? While slaps on the wrist and probation and like 2 minutes in jail for others? I think it all comes down to Plaxico being black.
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