Ding Dong, The Witch Is Pled
Michael Vick cops a plea. Prosecutors will recommend 18+ months, though his own attorneys will ask the judge, pretty please, for less than a year. Since cruel and unusual punishment is wrong, I won’t recommend breaking Vick’s arms and legs and tossing him into a pit with his own dogs.
Comment by Jess Nevins —
August 20, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
You’re sure cruel and unusual punishments are wrong?
Drat.
I’d be happy with life imprisonment for him for this. Not gonna happen, alas.
Comment by stm177 —
August 20, 2007 @ 7:04 pm
6 to 12 months + probation + fine
Comment by Michael Warner —
August 20, 2007 @ 7:08 pm
Over against the “cruel and unusual” punishment cliche, we also have “turnabout is fair play” and “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander” and “as ye sow, so shall ye reap” and “those who live by the sword shall die by the sword” and “an eye for an eye” and “as you have done [to] the least of these” and….
Seems like there’s precedent, though I’m not in favor of cruelty for it’s own sake, either. Just shove him into a small kennel, feed him dogfood, and throw away the key. Make the world a safer place, at least for dogs, eh?
Comment by Jim Henley —
August 20, 2007 @ 7:12 pm
To be fair, the other “clichés” aren’t in the Bill of Rights.
Comment by lemuel pitkin —
August 20, 2007 @ 7:22 pm
I don’t mean to be a jerk, but I doubt that most of the commenters here are vegetarians (I’m not one, either.) How is what Vick did to those dogs any worse than what happens in slaughterhouses every day?
Comment by Jim Henley —
August 20, 2007 @ 7:26 pm
There are all kinds of answers to that, lemuel, more or less persuasive to more or fewer people. How about you come up with three of your own, and we’ll start with those?
Comment by Jess Nevins —
August 20, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
The answer, Lemuel, is not to let Vick’s cruelty go unpunished, but to change the laws so that the animals in slaughterhouses are treated more humanely and killed more mercifully.
In the meantime, I’ll take my victories-for-animals where I can get them.
Trackback by Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator —
August 20, 2007 @ 9:34 pm
Michael Vick to Plead Guilty in Dogfighting Case…
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has accepted a plea deal with federal prosecutors over his …
Comment by Joshua Holmes —
August 20, 2007 @ 11:09 pm
Before you rejoice, take some time to look at the shenanigans behind the prosecution: Michael Vick and the Feds.
Comment by MDR —
August 20, 2007 @ 11:32 pm
Has anyone noticed that dog fighting has been added to the ever expanding list of federal crimes? There used to be only a small handful of federal crimes. Now, everything is being converted into a federal crime. Whats next?
Comment by SomeCallMeTim —
August 21, 2007 @ 8:29 am
As with Bonds, I’m getting pushed into sympathy for Vick by the virulence of the comments of sports columnists. He’s going to jail. Good. He should. Dog fighting sounds like a monstrous sport, and it is, rightly, illegal. But he didn’t invent it, and given where he grew up, he didn’t have to be some sort of monstrous genetic defect to pick it up.
Comment by Bill —
August 21, 2007 @ 8:55 am
Given that the text of the Bill of Rights states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” and given the strict interpretations favored by the current Supreme Court, why has no one tried to defend Guantanamo by simply saying “Sure, it’s cruel, but it’s hardly unusual. I mean, we do it all the time. The Bill of Rights says no cruel and unusual punishments, this one’s just cruel.”
You could make a roster of all inmates and sign them up based on whether you want to punish them cruelly or unusually.
Comment by Jim Henley —
August 21, 2007 @ 9:42 am
Bill, there’s a future for you in the Bush Justice Department!
Comment by Vache Folle —
August 21, 2007 @ 1:38 pm
The punsihment has to be both cruel AND unusual. It could be cruel, but common or really unusual but not particularly cruel. Being fed to animals has been used a lot over the centuries, so I don’t reckon it’s all that unusual.
Comment by Kevin Carson —
August 21, 2007 @ 11:45 pm
Lemuel,
One possible answer is that the cruelty of factory farms is a means to an end; it’s not done as entertainment in its own right.
Then, too, even many of us carnivores draw ethical lines, like avoiding veal.
Comment by Eric the .5b —
August 22, 2007 @ 11:54 am
There’s always carnivore solidarity. It’s one thing to kill and eat prey animals, it’s another thing to injure and kill other predators for kicks. Dog or cat vs. cow? I know which side I’m on!