Notorious bad consumer and former Atlanta Falcon’s quarterback, Michael Vick has been released from prison. Let’s take this moment to reflect and click the “Michael Vick” tag. [AP]
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The guy deserves another chance. He’s done his time / punishment. Isn’t that what society places so much value on? If we’re not going to give people the opportunity to start over, what is the point of the punishment system in the first place?
Give him a break. He paid his price.
@BasilAerosmith: Deterrence.
@SteelersAreGo: @SteelersAreGo:
It’s fairly established that the current prison / punishment system we have does absolutely nothing to deter people from committing crimes. Not even the murderers. If it worked even a little bit, we wouldn’t have the mass overcrowding situations that we do in the prisons today. It is a failed model.
@BasilAerosmith: One person’s “people” is another person’s “garbage.” In my house, garbage gets discarded.
Hide your dogs, here comes Vick!
imo, they should lock up assholes like him for much, much longer than that.
animal fighting is disgusting. get the hell out of my gene pool.
At least he left cats alone.
Too soon?
@Trai_Dep: most dog fighters use cats as the dogs’ first “competitors.”
so, yes, too soon, and inaccurate at that.
There isn’t enough prison space to lock up criminals that are a threat to human beings. A convition, fine and probation or house arrest would have been enough of a deterrant for Vick.
@edrebber: soooo we let out those who have minor drug-related offenses. ta-da! empty beds.
personally, i think someone shooting up or smoking is a lot less dangerous than someone who starves a dog, then lets it loose at weaker dogs/cats so it rips them to shreds.
@katieoh: Plus animal cruelty is one of the biggest predictors of human-on-human criminal behavior. I’m hella more worried about an animal abuser than a pothead.
@katieoh:
Agreed. There are currently way to many non-violent drug offenders taking up space in prisions. That’s why you get those laughable prison terms in California. 45 minutes served of a 3 month sentence due to overcrowding. Why even bother.
@edrebber: i should also add: if someone has that little regard for animal life, what do you think he would do to a human being that made him angry?
@katieoh: Are you serious? What he did was despicable, I agree. But how do you draw the conclusion that he would hurt a human being because he dogfights?
And lets not play what ifs. Present actual scientific data.
@dohtem:
[www.americanhumane.org]
Child and animal protection professionals have recognized this link, noting that abuse of both children and animals is connected in a self-perpetuating cycle of violence.
[www.21stcenturycares.org]
…men who abused animals were five times more likely to have been arrested for violence against humans…
[www.aspca.org]
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence conducted its own study in which 85.4 percent of women and 63.0 percent of children reported incidents of pet abuse after arriving at domestic violence shelters.
Take a look at Vick’s dogs, and the wonderful homes they have now.
[sportsillustrated.cnn.com]
@Laura Northrup: Thank you so much for that link. It makes me want to cry with happiness that some of those animals are getting second chances.
@MissPeacock: Aww…one of them’s even learning to read! Shows what anyone can accomplish if just given the chance…
Although I detest what he’s done to animals, I’d like to make a point on how house arrest is not a fair punishment for the rich and famous.
If you own a huge house, pool, and acres of land, having to stay there is not nearly as bad as some run down tiny house with no yard. How is it a fair punishment? I feel the state should supply apartments or homes for people on house arrest, and charge them for the time spent there.
@MustyBuckets: Intriguing proposal. Hmm. Perhaps these properties could be aggregated into a single building, for convenience…and everyone could be assigned their own rooms, with a bed, a sink, and a toilet…they could even add laundry facilities, libraries, cafeterias, and yards that all the residents could use…
But I agree, house arrest is an infuriatingly inadequate punishment in many cases.
hmm…maybe the raiders have a chance this year after all!
If the NFL takes him back, I hope they lose broadcast rights on every cable & broadcast system on the planet.
Watch him be welcomed back with open arms, however.
@Trai_Dep: The NFL is the human equivalent to dog fighting (with some padding), so it would be hypocritical for them not to welcome him
@morlo: Humans can consent. Animals can’t.
Although, I’d be fine if it was a Lions vs NFL Owners, bare-knuckled. I’m sure the lions would consent to that.
@Trai_Dep:
That would just make me sick. He blew it. Let him get a shit job.
Let me just say that, on the off chance any NFL team decides to hire that moron, I will boycott each and every sponsor of their games.
Yes, he has done the time prescribed; that does not mean I think he is rehabilitated. IMO, he is still a danger to society – people as well as animals.
Michael Vick re-arrested in 3, 2, 1 …
I think what he did is an abhorrent thing. I own 2 dogs myself.
That being said, he did his time.
I don’t really think what he did was all that bad.
Do you eat factory farmed meat? Do you ever eat at Micky Dee’s or Burger King? Do you eat meat that did not come from some hippy organic pasture? Then you have spent your money and energy to pay for someone to torture animals, to leave them locked in crates for their entire lifetimes and live a life of abject misery and suffering. Probably much more miserable than Michael Vick’s dogs.
Point being, 95% of the posters here have no leg to stand on criticizing Michael Vick. He tried to launch a number of entrepreneurial ventures with his money, such as a wine shop and a car rental agency, probably to ensure that his family would be taken care of, without really understanding the commitment involved to make them work. They went south, largely because he got put in prison by a sadistically hypocritical “criminal justice” system, by a government that pays some people and imprisons others for causing suffering.
Get over it. My might be a real slime bag, I don’t really know much about him, but in all likelihood he deserved his wealth as much as anyone else, and it’s a damn shame that he is bankrupt.
If you are gloating over his fall, your energy would better be directed towards finding how you can provide something useful to the world on the broadest scale so you can bring millionaire level wealth to yourself.