You are correct - Giants gave him that vacation, not the league…

I really don’t know which way I’d go… hmmm… I think I’d still take Vick - simply cuz his jail time is up this summer, while Plax’s will likely just be beginning. Yeah… yeah - I’ll take Vick (over Burress), if anyone wants that Pounder action.

I’ll take Vick. Stallworth is fucked.

Maybe a better pounder bet is Vick vs Burress?

“Common law murder is defined as the:

1. unlawful
2. killing
3. of another human being
4. with a state of mind known as “malice aforethought”.[citation needed]
The first three elements are relatively straightforward; however, the concept of “malice aforethought” is a complex one that does not necessarily mean premeditation. The following states of mind are recognized as constituting the various forms of “malice aforethought”:
[snip]
iii. Reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life (sometimes described as an “abandoned and malignant heart”),
[snip]
Under state of mind (iii), an “abandoned and malignant heart”, the killing must result from defendant’s conduct involving a reckless indifference to human life and a conscious disregard of an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury. An example of this is a 2007 law in California where an individual could be convicted of third-degree murder if he or she kills another person while operating a motor vehicle while being under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or controlled substances.”

In other words, it appears the Adenhart, et al, murderer was foolish enough to commit his crime in Los Angeles of Anaheim, which as followers of the Angels from the 1980s can tell you, is actually in California. Indeed this morning I heard that he will be charged with three counts of murder (among other charges). Stallworth was either lucky or smart enough to kill someone while DUI outside of California, so he won’t be tried on a murder charge - since no such statute exists in Florida (if I understand correctly). That’s a shame. They committed the same crime.

I do still wonder if the Adenhart, et al, murder will have any effect on Stallworth in terms of the court of public opinion, or more importantly (to Stallworth), in the Court of Roger Goodell. Given his track record, it seems like Goodell will suspend Stallworth (and Vick) once he satisfies the penalties meted out by the criminal justice system. If Stallworth is still young (and fit) enough to consider a return to the NFL, Goodell may feel pressure (real or imagined) to help delay that return… at least I would hope he would, personally. One other personal note: I hope Stallworth’s chances for resuming an NFL career are as high as Rae Carruth’s. Now, I do believe Carruth’s murder (for hire, of his pregnant girflriend) is “worse” than Stallworth’s, and it’s clear Carruth has *zero* chance of an NFL career… duh - but that’s my point, I don’t want Stallworth to have that opportunity either.

At this time, Tank and I could devolve into the same debate we’ve had previously, about who’s crimes are worse enough to merit a permanent NFL ban: Vick, Pacman’s, or Stallworth’s. We don’t need to re-hash that again - but it seems like we can at least agree that if Donte Stallworth doesn’t play in the NFL ever again that, in addition to whatever other penalties/consequences he incurs for his actions, that’s seems eminently reasonable.

Again, though, the state of Florida may take care of that issue for Goodell depending on the sentence they’re able to impose. We’ll see.

As for the Duch article, my position is basically stated in the article, by Youk: “We need to forgive. But society also demands justice.” Now specifically for me, I don’t believe we *need* to forgive in every case - but if a criminal truly seems repentent and begs forgiveness, fine… in most cases, I can see the need to forgive (so that the rest of us can move on, it’s got nothing to do with the criminal… screw him/her). However, that in no way does - or should - mitigate the need for justice. People seem to think the two are linked. I think they’re mutually exclusive… at least on this earthly plane. Being truly repentent for one’s sins may help someone in the next life, but in my mind, it should have zero impact on the justice meted out… on the consequences of those actions. Apologies don’t bring back the murdered, so there still needs to be a consequence - and apologies don’t do anything for the suffering they endured, so the justice shouldn’t be altered.

A truly repentent individual will apologize for what was done, try the best they can to make it right, *and* also accept the consequences of their actions. When the crime is mass murder (or even a single murder, fwiw), nothing can be done to bring back the victims - which would be a necessary component of *fully* “making it right”. Therefore, I see no reason to adjust the consequence… “eye for an eye” if you like, and a truly repentant individual would understand and accept that. Otherwise, it’s just somebody putting on a show for their own self-interest. To me, it’s pretty much just that simple.

I think the NFL would prosper happily without the services of Stallworth, Jones, and Vick, and I don’t think it would really be unjust to any of them. While having served their respective sentences should, I think, immunize them from further government sanction, it is a necessary but insufficient condition to immunize them against additional sanction by private citizens or businesses.

Here is the link I forgot to include earlier, to the Duch article:

http://www.purposedriven.com/article.do?method=articlePage&contentId=112719

San Dimas High, etc etc

Put another way, Stallworth will be tried in his case based on the precedents in place and his consquences will ultimately be too light for the crime of murdering an innocent human being (um… that’s what he did - as much as the euphemism “vehicular manslaughter” attempts to sugarcoat it). The court of law will decide his punishment - but how will Stallworth play in the court of public opinion? Likely, it’ll be ignored - and the transgressions of Vick and Pacman will have gotten more play.

Course… just yesterday, a promising young Angels pitcher (and two other innocent passengers in his car, who will be easily ignored/forgotten) was killed by a drunk driver:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20090410_Rookie_pitcher_killed_in_crash.html

Since an athlete, albeit largely unknown to this point, was the killed instead of the killer… I wonder if it’ll do anything fo the public perception of “vehicular manslaughter”? And I wonder if Mr. Stallworth will now be viewed any differently - as he did the same thing, except he managed to murder only one person, not three.

I don’t know Stallworth’s history, but the Angel-killer apparently may face murder charges, perhaps because he was driving (under the influence) even though his license had been suspended for a previous drunk-driving incident. Good. He is a murderer, and the consequences should fit the crime. But is Donte Stallworth really any less a murderer? Seriously.

Sorry I’m serious here as well, but in all fairness to me… Tank started it! And San Dimas High football does rule, just for the record.

http://www.purposedriven.com/article.do?method=articlePage&contentId=112719

Another article from this week - evidently Vick’s BK hearing didn’t go so well:

http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/04/06/vicks-campaign-to-win-hearts-and-minds-needs-a-pick-me-up/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog

http://www.purposedriven.com/article.do?method=articlePage&contentId=112719

another interesting article re: Vick - evidently the bankruptcy judge was unimpressed with his reorg plan:

http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/04/06/vicks-campaign-to-win-hearts-and-minds-needs-a-pick-me-up/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog