Plaxico Agrees To Two Year Jail Term

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Lotus

I think that Burress's penalty is overly stiff. But I also see two mitigating factors:
1) it was NYC, where they have a serious gun crimes problem. In a way I can understand why the penalties are so tough.
2) since the gun went off accidentally, what if it had been pointed accidentally in a different direction and an innocent person had been hit? What if a ricochet had hit an innocent person? Plax can hardly say that he could have prevented such events.

We do not punish harshly for "what if" crimes, we punish harshly for actual crimes. Just like a first DUI offender gets more of a slap on the wrist...but IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time. There are all sorts of "what if" scenarios. We ALL speed, so "what if" we sped and lost control and hit someone? We would be punish MUCH more severely than if we got a speeding ticket.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by jsarno

IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.

You keep forgeting one very important fact,the victim..."contributory negligence"(there is a vidio). There was no malice by Sallworth(stupidity,yes)....he can do more good for the Family of the victim out of jail then in it.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Giantone

You keep forgeting one very important fact,the victim..."contributory negligence"(there is a vidio). There was no malice by Sallworth(stupidity,yes)....he can do more good for the Family of the victim out of jail then in it.

I'm confused...how was there malice with Plaxico? You are implying he deserves this punishment due to his malicious intent, but he didn't have malicious intent.
Plaxico could have done many public service announcements too, and been a poster for everyone. Putting him in jail really doesn't dissuade athletes from doing this. They will continue to carry guns. They will just have to be more careful of the dumb laws in NY.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by jsarno

I'm confused...how was there malice with Plaxico? You are implying he deserves this punishment due to his malicious intent, but he didn't have malicious intent.
Plaxico could have done many public service announcements too, and been a poster for everyone. Putting him in jail really doesn't dissuade athletes from doing this. They will continue to carry guns. They will just have to be more careful of the dumb laws in NY.

Never said there was with Plax, you brought up Stallworth and that is who we were speaking about at the the time.But there was malice with Vick.

[SmootSmack]

Meanwhile

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Meanwhile

Oh those crazy Vicks! :smashfrea When's their reality show coming out?

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Meanwhile

Momma Vick should get some time for raising two criminally-idiotic sons.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by Buster

Momma Vick should get some time for raising two criminally-idiotic sons.

[wolfeskins]

Originally Posted by jsarno

We do not punish harshly for "what if" crimes, we punish harshly for actual crimes. Just like a first DUI offender gets more of a slap on the wrist...but IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time. There are all sorts of "what if" scenarios. We ALL speed, so "what if" we sped and lost control and hit someone? We would be punish MUCH more severely than if we got a speeding ticket.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.

gun laws are a serious issue. even with a permit you cannot carry a loaded weapon in certain places, if you do and if you get caught, the penalty is severe. even worse if you discharge your weapon.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by jsarno

We do not punish harshly for "what if" crimes, we punish harshly for actual crimes. Just like a first DUI offender gets more of a slap on the wrist...but IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time. There are all sorts of "what if" scenarios. We ALL speed, so "what if" we sped and lost control and hit someone? We would be punish MUCH more severely than if we got a speeding ticket.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.

I essentially agree with you. Killing should be punished much more harshly than potential killing. The point I was trying to make is hidden in your comments, though. Notice that we do punish drunk drivers, even if they don't injure anyone, on the principle that they could have. We do, in fact, punish potential crimes, because that is what drunk driving laws are all about.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by Lotus

I essentially agree with you. Killing should be punished much more harshly than potential killing. The point I was trying to make is hidden in your comments, though. Notice that we do punish drunk drivers, even if they don't injure anyone, on the principle that they could have. We do, in fact, punish potential crimes, because that is what drunk driving laws are all about.

Excellent point. A+ professor!

[sportscurmudgeon]

Indeed, the criminal justice system does not punish "what if" crimes. It only punishes actual violations of the law.

Plax is not in jail because he took a gun to a nightclub where it accidentally went off. That is not his crime.

His crime is that he carried a concealed handgun which was unregistered. There isn't a lot of "what if" in there; he did exactly that.

Whether or not anyone likes it, that is a crime in NYC. And if anyone thinks that such a law violates the 2nd Amendment of the Constituion, then you also need to believe that there have to be thousands of idiots practicing law in NYC for the past several years because none of them has figured a way to get their aruguments heard in Federal Court to make the NYC law null and void. Highly unlikely...

You don't have to like it, but that is the law in NYC and Plaxico Burress broke it. Even his lawyer - - the same guy who got P-Diddy off on similar charges about 2 years ago - - said that Burress' case was virtually indefensible.

The law is there because the people who make laws in NYC voted it there and the people in NYC have kept those folks in office so the people there cannot be super-offended by the law. If you don't like that law, live somewhere else. If you have to live in NYC or visit there, obey that law or you might be spending time in the Crossbars Hilton with a roomate named Big Bopper.

Burress is not guilty of a "what if" crime. He is guilty of carrying a concealed unregistered handgun in NYC. That is what he plead guilty to; that is why he is going to jail.

TECHNICALLY, the security guard at the nightclub who picked up the gun after Plax shot himself is also guilty of violating this law; so is Antonio Pierce who took the gun from the security guard and then took it back to Burress' home in NJ. The grand jury chose not to indict Pierce so the argument that Burress only got charged because he was a "celeb" doesn't hold a lot of water because Pierce is a comparable "celeb". I don't believe the security guard was ever brought to the grand jury for consideration.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Lotus

I essentially agree with you. Killing should be punished much more harshly than potential killing. The point I was trying to make is hidden in your comments, though. Notice that we do punish drunk drivers, even if they don't injure anyone, on the principle that they could have. We do, in fact, punish potential crimes, because that is what drunk driving laws are all about.

I absolutely agree with you, but remember you only lose your license for a little while, and usually serve NO jail time if you get a DUI...but if you had a DUI AND killed someone, you're put away for a while. What I am saying is, the guy that doesn't hurt anyone, or kill anyone with a DUI get's punished, but very lightly. Plax deserved to be punished VERY LIGHTLY. Community service, or even a week or two in jail. Not 2 years and end his career. What is he gonna do when he gets out? There is no way the punishment fits the crime in this case. No way.

[budw38]

Originally Posted by jsarno

We do not punish harshly for "what if" crimes, we punish harshly for actual crimes. Just like a first DUI offender gets more of a slap on the wrist...but IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time. There are all sorts of "what if" scenarios. We ALL speed, so "what if" we sped and lost control and hit someone? We would be punish MUCH more severely than if we got a speeding ticket.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.

Nice post Sir