Michael Vick and Donte' Stallworth have a lot of things in common. They are professional football players. They stand six feet tall. They are 28. They are black. They are in trouble with the law.
There the comparison ends, or at least it should.
But ignorance and illiteracy are not against the law in our country and, even worse, appear to be on the rise. To be sure, there are many people among us, like Washington Wizards center Brendan Haywood, who think that the trouble Vick and Stallworth got themselves into with the law is somehow similar and, therefore, the resolutions to their troubles should be too. As Haywood commented Wednesday on his blog at Yardbarker.com, echoing not only lots of folks on the street and people with blog accounts, but even some supposedly learned interpreters of current affairs (i.e. journalists): "So let me get this straight, Michael Vick gets two years in jail for killing dogs and Stallworth gets only 30 days for killing someone? Now they say that justice is blind, but even Stevie Wonder can see that more than 30 days in jail was needed here. I think this was a terrible injustice."
That line of thinking is woefully misinformed.
For starters, Michael Vick – the absolutely wrong cause célèbre in the black community, or any community, for a racially prejudiced justice system – didn't just get out of prison after 23 months for killing dogs. (For those so concerned about racial injustice or any injustice in the justice system, drop a dime on The Innocence Project, or the Center for Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Law School, or other like organizations that work to correct real miscarriages of justice.) As the black hip-hop poet Bomani Armah satirically encouraged his community in what became a controversial rap a couple of years ago: "Read a Book!"
Or in Vick's case, read the indictment and conviction.
Vick was sent to the hoosegow for operating a dog-fighting operation, and doing so across state lines. He violated a federal law that was punishable as a felony. The fact that dogs were killed along the way – which Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle reminded me just a month ago that Vick admitted to doing – was just a particularly gory inhumane detail.
Stallworth on Tuesday began serving a 30-day jail sentence for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Miami.
"The reality is they're [the two cases] apples and oranges," Alex Levay, a top Virginia criminal lawyer, told me on Thursday. "One is an accident [Stallworth] and the other [Vick] is a conscious decision to engage in an illegal act."
But many of us in the black community are so beaten down psychologically that we think these two cases are evidence that the system was out to get Michael Vick because it gave someone who killed another human being a much lesser sentence than someone who was convicted of inhumane treatment of canines. Please explain that to former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Dwayne Goodrich. He is black and this year will celebrate being at the halfway point of a 12 ½-year sentence for an after-the-show-its-the-after-party hit-and-run accident that killed two people.
Athletes in Trouble With the Law
June 16: Mel Hall, who played for four teams in his 13-year major league career, is found guilty of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl he coached on a basketball team a decade ago. He's sentenced to 45 years in jail. Click through to see more sports figures who ran into trouble with the law.
Ray Stubblebine, AP
June 17: Former quarterback Ryan Leaf, seen here after being drafted by the San Diego Chargers in 1998, was arrested at the Canadian border on drug and burglary charges. He was wanted in the state of Texas.
Mark Lennihan, AP
June 16: NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth, left, pleads guilty to DUI manslaughter and will serve 30 days in jail.
Alan Diaz, AP
May 30: Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins was charged with resisting arrest without violence.
Sam Greenwood, Getty Images
May 27: Falcons lineman Quinn Ojinnaka was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of simple battery. According to the police report, Ojinnaka got into a fight with his wife over a woman he added as a friend on his Facebook account.
Getty Images
May 29: Olympic silver medalist and former world kayaking champion Nathan Baggaley was sentenced to at least five years in prison on charges of supplying and manufacturing ecstasy pills.
Maxim Marmur, AFP / Getty Images
May 25: Former NBA star Jayson Williams, seen here during his manslaughter trial in 2004, was arrested after authorities say he punched someone in the face outside a nightclub.
Brian Branch-Price, AP
May 25: Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks was charged with using his truck to hit a police officer who tried to stop the vehicle on foot.
Getty Images
May 16: Buffalo Bills fullback Corey McIntyre was arrested and accused with exposing and fondling himself in public.
Getty Images
May 15: Bruce Smith, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year, faces multiple charges after being pulled over for speeding.
Chris O'Meara, AP
It was a horrific thing, as I wrote months ago, that happened to Mario Reyes, the 59-year-old laborer Stallworth struck with his black Bentley while driving drunk in the wee hours of March 14. Stallworth didn't own up to it immediately but, unlike Vick, didn't attempt to mislead investigators. He pled guilty and reached a confidential financial settlement with Reyes' family that led to his apparently light sentence for an error in judgment that will haunt him the rest of his life.
Levay pointed out to me that any prosecutor worth his salt queries the victim or victims for their opinion about the case in which they find themselves.
The Associated Press reported that Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle cited Stallworth's lack of a previous criminal record, cooperation and willingness to accept responsibility as factors in the plea deal that followed the financial statement and resulted in a month-long sentence. The AP reported that Rundle said the Reyes family -- particularly the victim's 15-year-old daughter -- wanted the case resolved to avoid any more pain.
"For all of these reasons, a just resolution of this case has been reached," Rundle told the AP.
Levay told me that part of Stallworth's restitution in this case can be seen in the terms of the settlement, whatever they may be. After all, many South Florida media outlets described Reyes as the breadwinner for his family.
It was also reported that Reyes may not have been in a crosswalk when Stallworth struck him. That is known in the law as "contributing negligence," and in some states, like Virginia, Levay told me, such a finding voids a financial settlement. That won't be the case for Reyes' family.
"The state can consider these circumstances," Dallas Criminal Court Judge John Creuzot reminded me Thursday. "It's not surprising at all in this deal. When you're in a situation where someone can make financial compensation...that can be part of the equation."
It is trite to say that his family can't bring him back, but in Stallworth the family can replace solace from income that their lost patriarch provided. They may not have been able to do so with Stallworth locked away for years and unable to draw an NFL paycheck. As it is, no one knows when he'll be able to make up that part of his punishment because NFL boss Roger Goodell on Thursday suspended Stallworth, and rightfully so, indefinitely.
A similar decision from the commissioner could still befall Vick, and if it does that will be yet another thing he and Stallworth have in common.
Their cases, however, will forever remain dissimilar. This isn't about dogs versus humans; it's about fact versus foolishness.
Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn and the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he lives in Silver Spring, Md.
Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Dear Lord, please save us from our sensationalictic mindsets. While individuals only see what's on the surface for Stallworth (drunk driver kills man), they convenienly forget (or refuse to remember) that the individual that was killed was just as much at fault for darting out into traffic. He just as easily could've been killed by a little old lady from Pasadena (or Port St. Lucie in this instance) than by a drunk driver that was coherent enough to flash his lights at the individual (another conveniently missed fact). This in no way should dismiss the fact that Stallowrth was driving while intoxcicated, he should be popped for a DUI. The reason this is different from Vick is that he owned up to the incident (I believe he called for cops & ambulances) where Michael tried to cover up. It's different from Nick Adenhart because that drunk driver ran a red light & plowed into that car, Reyes would be alive today had he not jaywalked, a drunk Stallworth or not.
this "he flashed his lights" argument is ridiculous. if you have time to flash your lights, you have time to hit the brakes. nobody intends to kill anyone when they get behind the wheel drunk, but it happens too often. 28 days for taking a human life is despicable, no matter how much money the family got out of it
Money talks. What sentence would you receive if you didn't have the financial resources Stallworth did???
GRER, being sober, he may have seen him before he darted out, which many people do, been able to react faster by swerving or stepping on the breaks. YOU were not there either so you dont have all the facts either. Driving drunk kills too many people and if they keep getting off because its an "accident", or they have money to pay off the family, its going to keep happening.
Obviously, you need to learn to read because how is it an accident when you intentionally get into your car knowing you are drunk. That should not be considered an accident.
Stallworth on Tuesday began serving a 30-day jail sentence for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Miami.
"The reality is they're [the two cases] apples and oranges," Alex Levay, a top Virginia criminal lawyer, told me on Thursday. "One is an accident [Stallworth] and the other [Vick] is a conscious decision to engage in an illegal act."
No longer apples and oranges to me.
Maybe you can explain that to the families who loved ones are killed by drunken drivers.
um... i think you picking a bone with the wrong person, cuz people
get into thier car and drive home drunk, not just every night, but
everyday! (Vegas: 24/7 everything baby)
The "accident" part means he didnt intend to kill someone that night,
where as for Mike Vick (that dirty, miserable loser) KNEW [dog's]
lives where ending weekly, if not, Daily! All for pure entertainment.
Plus, Everything has been explained to the victim's family, in the language of
$$$. And they accepted.
While he intentionally got behind the wheel of a car to drive, while intoxicicated, he did not intentionally or maliciously intend to hurt anyone. He thought he was fine to drink and drive (foolish).
You make it sound like he got behind the wheel saying "Who am I going to kill today, so I can be in the news and potentially ruin my career". WRONG! Are you serious?
Vick on the other hand has been in trouble countless times, lied about incidents he was in and to be totally truthful showed no remorse until after he was in a corner.
I have heard countless times, "They are out to get Michael Vick", "They want to bring him down".
If you and countless others believed that, then I'm sure Michael Vick believed it, and if he did believe it why in GOD's name would he do something as STUPID as DogFighting!
There is more than meets the eye with each case -it is not rational to look at one fact and nothing else - then make a judgement based on hatred. Obviously, if the family wants to show mercy and needs some help for some reason - that should be evaluated. In the Vick case - Vick has already served a substantial sentence. In the Stallworth case - the family agree's with mercy, and has asked for help from Stallworth - also, the man apparently walked out in front of the car - that makes a lot of the difference in this case (anyone could have hit the man apparently)
Thank you for the clarification. Hopefully, people will read the whole article and see the difference between the two cases.
Maybe someone should explain to the family of this man that a few dogs were more important than this man's life, apparently. I don't know about you, but I would much rather hear that my dog was killed than my dad was killed, not that either one is that appealing to hear, but still.
Obviously Stallworth wasn't trying to kill someone, but honking because someone's in your way doesn't make it ok to still hit them and kill them because they didn't move. If he had time to honk, he had time to hit the brakes.
i hope mr. blackistone loses a close loved one to a drunk driver, and i hope he is able to stand by this column afterwards. it really is a big damn deal. someone please revoke this minstrel's contract with fanhouse
I cant believe anyone would call Stallworths' an accident! He knowingly got behind the wheel DRUNK! Not much different than russian roulette. The accident is that a man made a simple mistake trying to catch a bus. I too have lost a loved one to a drunk driver. Should I go to their final resting place and tell them that they shouldn't have been on the road that night. What an assanine thought, huh? I hope Donte sits for at least 3 years. Vicks already closing in on that.
There is gravity, the sun is bright, the night is dark. You can't change a fact or absolute truth. If you are driving a car and you see someone or something in the road, and you say "let me hit the gas pedal, and steer my steering wheel in the direction of this object so I can hit it and see what happens" - well that would be called hitting something on purpose. The hitting of this man was a complete accident - sorry, you cannot change that fact. Did Mr. Stallworth possibly have a slight buzz ? maybe and probably not even that in reality - Is that still considered negligent under the law ? Yes. Are you a driver who likes to drive more than 10 or 15 miles per hour over the speed limit? if so, well you could not have stopped either - and possibly, the way this man apparently walked out in front of the car - you may not have been able to stop the car even while going the speed limit. That being the case - it is very likely that the DUI was not the cause of the accident. That being said - if the man had over point 008 or whatever - he should be judged for the first time DUI offense as a DUI - but the cause of this accident was apparently in this order #1 the man walked out in front of a moving car, #2 the car was going over the speed limit, #3 the driver was not drunk, but had alcohol in his system - Those are the facts - sorry, that's just the way it is. Nobody likes a drunk driver, but the reality is there are probably more accidents caused by tailgater's, and road rage type driver's - drinking and driving is something we can discourage and it is easier to prove than road rage and intent - but to pervert the issue, and try to change facts does not make sense. Obviously, there are many cases where the intoxicated driver is completely at fault, and they have to be judged accordingly - this is not one of those cases.
I didn't follow the Vick prosecution and I don't know anything about law, but I do know this. The judge in the Vick case, Henry E. Hudson, is a notorious nut job as this Nov, 2007 piece by ESPN legal analyst Lester Munson makes abundantly clear:
"Hudson's 2,000-page report on pornography became known as 'Uncle Sam's Dirty Book,' and was a best seller for the U.S. Government Printing Office at $53 per copy. His leadership of the Marshals Service included early decisions in the attempt to arrest Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, the greatest disaster in the history of federal law enforcement, a fiasco that led to a grand jury investigation (Hudson was called to testify) and misconduct charges against 12 federal agents....In his tenure as a U.S. Attorney, Hudson initiated a massive investigation of a bingo operation. That's right, bingo....Hudson and a team of IRS agents spent three weeks in the Bahamas as part of an investigation into a bingo operation...He's also a big fan of the draconian sentences meted out in federal crack cocaine cases." And on and on.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=3119284
Not to exonerate Vick in any way, but if we're going to be really honest here, we have to admit that the US Attorney in the Vick case only recommended a 12-18 month sentence and the judge gave him 23 months, plus $1 million for the care of the dogs.
In other words, they threw the book at Vick. I'm not sure if they used the RICO laws that I believe were designed to take down Mafia figures, or if they used the Animal Fighting Prohibition Act of 2007 which Pres. Bush had signed into law a few months before Vick's indictment.
Like I said, I'm not trying to exonerate him because if he does come back he's liable to get in trouble all over again. The powers that be will ultimately decide whether he can play again or not. But he did serve out his sentence and he didn't kill anybody.
Vick should have gotten 20 years.
I agree with you! Vick should have gone away forever. Just another low IQ lowlife with too much money because he can throw a ball. Look at the big shot now. He should NEVER play in NFL again! Let him clean cages at SPCA for life!
Mr. Blackstone,
Thank you for the information. While your argument is technically sound, it is morally bankrupt. Vick or no, Black people recognize the prevailing wind in this country; always have. Black people have never been afforded as humane a treatment as dogs and probably never will. Dogs were never hung for looking at a woman or for being dogs. So you play apologist for racial inequity if you wish. Oneday soon, it might be you on TV offering a Mea Culpa for something for which your counterpart would have received community service. Remember that on your drives to Silver Springs, brother.
BDR19 - The Reyes family AGREED to the 30 days jail term, taking a monetary compensation over a longer term. So there's nothing to explain to them. The plea bargain was made with their approval.
I can take and of you to a place in Louisiana where guy's fight their pit bull's all day every day, and if their prized pooch was to loose... BANG.!!!! game over. The police sometimes even bust some of these shady characters, But none of them ever get any serious charges and are usually released the next day. I don't think this will ever change ,unless they become multi million dollar athletes. Vick would have been better served with a year long suspension and before every game show him at a kennel in the home teams state cleaning out crap, and encouraging kids not to abuse animals and to not go down the same road.
I'd have to say this article and some of you people amaze me. I could care less about Fed charge crossing interstate lines, or Vick knew the dogs were dying.
Do you understand a man was killed. A MAN WAS KILLED!!! A perrrrson, a human!!! Logic only tells you that this person has to do more than 30ty days in jail ok it has too. You have to be a complete idiot to hide behind some chumped up words in a law books to back up the statement that this 30 day jail term is justice.
Your god given internal law knows better. Are the cases different yes they are. Were there things in Vicks case that pissed the white people off Hell yeh. Were there things that pissed white people off in Dantes case hell no. You know why because dante aint a 100mil black man and he hit a spanish man. White folks could care less about these too. But a Dog oh hell naw a dog and on top of that a black man was killing dogs. Oh he has to go to jail forever. Are you kidding me? This world will never change racist courts, racist judges, a racist system, and rich black men one slip up and your done under the jail.
People kill me... a man is dead and some dogs are dead. Thats the bottomline whats more important. Dont let the law book tell you what to believe.