Criminal justice for NFL stars

I'm sorry, but I just don't see the sense in sending Plaxico Burress to prison for two years because he accidentally and stupidly shot himself in the leg with an illegal pistol. The National Football League star receiver went to prison last week, 10 months after a pistol he had tucked into his waistband slipped and discharged while he was in a New York City nightspot. He was wounded in the leg; no one else was hurt.

Burress, one of the heroes of the N.Y. Giants' Super Bowl victory, has been suspended by the NFL and will spend the next two years in prison. New York City's firearm laws are unforgiving: Owning an illegal weapon brings an automatic sentence of jail time. That Burress could be so stupid as to carry a loaded gun casually slipped into the waistband of his pants is unbelievable. He's had no rational explanation as to why he did such a thing. Testimonials from his ex-teammates and others indicate that Burress is a good and responsible man, a husband and father who was clearly devastated to be leaving his family behind. But he did a foolish thing and now will pay for it.

Compare Burress' sentence, and his crime, however, to Michael Vick's. Vick, a star quarterback, has just returned to the NFL after serving less than two years for financing and operating dog-fighting enterprise. Vick knowingly spent his fortune to train dogs to fight, financed dog fights, and callously killed dogs that were not good fighters. He was sentenced to 23 months — less time than Burress got — for his crimes. Vick was not injured in the commission of crime, as Burress was, but Vick was forced into bankruptcy (which was probably a good thing for him).

The big difference in the two incidents was that Burress was the only person hurt by his actions; Vick took part in the killing of fighting dogs, and the money he threw around encouraged others to be involved in dog-fighting. The societal damage in the Vick case was much greater. I have no doubt about Vick's remorse and regret, and I don't disagree with the NFL's decision to let him continue his career. He has served his time and (I hope) learned his lesson. If justice were equal, Burress would pay a fine, face a suspended sentence, lose a substantial portion of his seven-figure income, and be suspended by the NFL for a period of time, on top of his serious leg injury. But in New York and other cities, possessing a firearm, even if never used, is more serious than wantonly killing dozens of dogs and promoting illegal dog-fighting.