ThreeStrikesandOut

Okay, here we go.  According to an article on Yahoo-Sports, Mike Vick will be applying to a rehabilitation program that could have Vick out of prison by the end of 08 and back into the NFL by 2009.  According to Yahoo:

Under the program, Vick could be released after serving only 12 months of the 23-month sentence Vick was given Dec. 10 in Richmond, Va. It’s unclear exactly when Vick would be released because it’s unclear whether the 12-month term starts from when he voluntarily began serving his prison term in November or whether it starts from when he enters Leavenworth.

So let me get this straight, Vick has been in prison for about as long a I’ve been awake today and there is already talk about a shorter sentence?  If it was further into Vick’s sentence the talk of a shorter sentence would be perfectly acceptable.  If Vick shows remorse and good behavior in prison, he should have the same opportunity for a shorter sentence as anyone. 

The thing about it is the program is a drug rehabilitation program.  Mike Vick is not in prison for drug use, he’s in prison for dog-fighting.  There has been no suggestion by anyone that drugs had anything to do with Vick’s dog-fighting and dog-killing escapades, and there’s no reason right now that he should get time off for a program that has nothing to do with his crime. 

While there were many who were surprised by the length of Vick’s sentence, there will not be as many people surprised if Vick does get out early.  We have come to expect that celebrities will be treated different than everyone else, and Vick will just be another in a long line of celebrities who had upper-class money, but low-class morals who gets off because we’d rather see them in movies, on television, or on the football field on Sundays.