Michael Vick and Megan’s Law

By | August 14, 2009

outside

Lok down yer goggies, Michael Vick iz in town!

Imagine my surprise earlier this evening when I learned that Michael Vick, former Atlanta Falcon and current douchebag extraodinaire, was signed to the good ol’ Iggles today.  At the risk of polluting the interwebz with yet another opinion about insipid bullshit that shouldn’t be worth my time (or yours), I felt compelled to ask two questions to the “Michael Vick has served his time” crowd:

Does that mean you’re all against sex offender registries created through Megan’s Law?  After all, those sex offenders have “served their time,” so don’t they deserve a second chance and deserve to not have their personal information broadcast all over the internet?

I’m just wondering why people who have paid their debt to society deserve to have their lives ruined over statutory rape charges, pissing on the side of a building, or streaking, yet a man who admitted to and was convicted of running a dog fighting ring should be allowed to retain his multi-million dollar job.  Oh, why he should be able to keep that job despite the contract he signed which undoubtedly had a morality clause, which typically covers things that give your employer bad PR.

But it’s cool, because he paid his debt to society!  He ran a large, organized operation that was very punishable under RICO (had his plea bargain not been accepted), and Vick got very lucky that he is as famous as he is or I doubt he would have gotten out of his legal troubles.  Now, he gets to run ads for the Humane Society that basically say “I’m Michael Vick, and I’m just sorry I got caught” and everyone is buying his snow job about being a changed man.

I’m steeling myself for an onslaught of “the crimes just aren’t the same” comments, despite the fact that this isn’t my gripe.  My gripe is that there is a lot of overlap between the “Michael Vick paid his debt to society” crowd and the “sex offender registries are 100% awesome” crowd.

Frankly, something just ain’t right about that.

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If you’re reading this from my Facebook notes, please go to the original blog post (located here) to comment.

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  • http://athleticalley.com/ Danny Thornton

    I have to agree with you that a person that gets caught "pissing on the wall" or "streaking" need not have his/her life ruined by having to be a registered sex offender. With that said, I can not add statutory rape in that.

    Now, I know that you read my article on Vick. If you read it well enough, you know that I also advocated that Vick should have nothing to do with animals going forward. If there was an animal abuse registry, I would agree that he needed to be added to it.

    However, when it comes down to it, his employer is the one that decides whether or not they want to employ this criminal. With that of a sex offender, regardless of the nature of the crime, the employer is still the one that gets to decide if the nature of the crime constitutes not hiring them.

    I will give you an example. I once interviewed this kid that was fresh out of college. He was one of the best interviews that I had. When we did his background check, something came back. I had the job of digging in to find out. The kid could have lied to me of what the charge was, but he did not. He chose to own up to what he had done. Whether I thought he was right or wrong in the nature of the crime, I had to weigh out the option and decide if this would be a deterrent to his job if I hired him. The answer was no, and I hired him. He was one of the best hires that I ever made.

    The point is, just because he was a "Registered Sex Offender" did not keep him from the job.

  • http://www.drunkenatheist.com drunkenatheist

    Wow, did you ever miss the point.

    I had originally typed out a large response, but between the condescending "Now, I know that you read my article on Vick. If you read it well enough" and your inability to grasp a spelled out point, I'm really not so sure that it won't be a waste of my time. I'd just like to point out that many people have thoughts in their heads that is in no way inspired by your babbling.

  • http://wwe.com MachoManRandySavage

    FREAK OUT FREAK OUT! #1 Wrestler in the World, Macho Man Randy Savage has thoughts on this subject! Aren't Megan's Law registers necessary (when they are necessary) because the perp feels a psychological compulsion to commit the crimes he does? How does dogfighting apply in any way to that? Furthermore it also seems childish to declare that because this country unfairly and indiscriminately applies the status of "sex offender" that it has any bearing on Vick. The fact is you can't claim, with ANY veracity, as to the internal state of Michael Vick at the moment. The man made a terrible mistake and has paid dearly for it, and he probably feels a great deal of remorse over it. Furthermore, who are you to moralize towards a group of people who DO have access to this person, for deciding in good faith that he does deserve a second chance? In closing– HISTORY BECKONS THE MACHO MAN!

    • http://www.drunkenatheist.com drunkenatheist

      Did you read the same post I wrote?