Celebrity preferential treatment was certainly evident in the case of Plaxico Burress a 32-year old former New York Giants professional football player who shot himself in the thigh while carrying a Glock in a nightclub in New York City in November 2008.
Burress began serving a two-year sentence September 24th, 2009 at Ulster County Correctional Facility in Napanoch, NY.
Considering New York State's mandatory 3.5 year setencing for gun possession, Burress was lucky to have walked away with a 2 year sentence. Burress was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment all of which could total up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Registration on said weapon was in Florida and eight months expired. Another fact to consider even if his weapon was registered Burress would not have been allowed possession in New York state. Not mentioned by many articles was the fact that the bullet trajectory narrowly missed a security gaurd in the nightclub.
Burress is placed in voluntary protective custody while incarcerated, he is separated from the rest of the inmate population at all times and gets a single cell to himself. Burress also has hired a consultant to teach him how to use his jail time productively.
After Burress serves his jail time he will he reinstated by the NFL since his suspension following the arrest. If Burress serves with good behavior he'll get released in June 2011.
The arguments presented by King James 711 did confirm my own beliefs that celebrities get preferential treatment. It is interesting to note that this light sentencing is unusual for a black man in the United States.
AP article written for MSNBC NBC sports: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/32965811/ns/sports-nfl/
NY Times Blog City Room by John Eligon copy and paste web address into into browser since this article is not allowed to be linked: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/burress-expected-to-plead-guilty-in-weapons-case/
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Talk about getting lucky! It must be nice to be a famous football player get lucky with the justice system. It's pretty obvious that he is going to get his special treatment in jail because of his cell all by himself, or maybe he is afraid that all the other inmates would try to hurt him due to his "special treatment"? I wouldn't doubt it.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the consultant Buress will help him figure out the correct firearms laws in the different states and that he needs keep them registered. Burress luckily didn't "accidently"
shoot anyone else in the night club because who knows what his sentence would of been if he did, maybe another slap on the wrist? But this story is not the first to show up about a celebrity who got special treatment with the justice system. Look at Paris Hilton when she spent about two weeks in jail for a DUI charge, that seems like a weak punishment.
The circumstances of Plaxico Buress' arrest are extremely rare and unlucky for Burress. He is a pro athlete who has as good a reason as anyone to be carrying a gun. I cannot argue as to why the gun was not registered, but we all make mistakes. The second amendment in the Constitution states our right to bear arms, and Burress was doing nothing more than just that. There are plenty of people who dislike Burress in New York and when you get in a club full of drunk people sometimes things can get out of hand. He had the gun for his own protection and that is not a crime.
ReplyDeleteWe should be feeling sorry for this man, not condemning him. His life hit rock bottom within a span of seconds. His unregistered gun slipped and fired a around, leaving a bullet in his own leg. Is that really something to send someone to jail for TWO YEARS over? The sentence is too strong if you ask me.
Before talking about preferential treatment, I think we need to look at the conditions Burress will be actually be staying in. These are not ideal conditions for anyone. The separate living quarters is not pleasant by any means, yet necessary for his safety. In reality he will have less freedom than a normal citizen during his time in prison. If you want to look at preferential treatment for celebrities, look at Donte Stallworth, a football player who received 24 days in prison for DUI manslaughter.