naacp says vick should be allowed back

[Goldenfleece]

I think we usually think of the law as limited in scope. If there was a law that said you cannot discriminate based on criminal record, then I think you'd have a very good point. However, in the U.S. a convicted felon loses his right to vote, and this often extends well after his sentence is over. Rather than U.S. law barring discrimination, it allows companies to request background checks to see the criminal record. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the reasoning here is that a criminal record is as much a part of a person's professional background as their education, employment record, etc.

In my opinion, the onus on the system is to prevent Vick from breaking the law. It is not their duty to make Vick a better person. The time in prison may convince him it isn't prudent for him to continue doing these things, but why should we believe that it will make him change his mind about what he thinks is right or wrong?

I do think a person can reform, but it is not the burden of his employer to see that it happens. He is in an industry where public image is huge. He has already tarnished his own image with the Ron Mexico affair, and now this breaks. If he wants to reform his ways, the burden is on him to demonstrate that he has seen the light. The problem is that Vick doesn't seem to think what he did was wrong, and when he gets out we all expect him to claim to have seen the error of his ways just so he can start playing ball again. He lied to the commissioner. He lied to the owner of his team. So I think that he has an uphill battle to regain his credibility and then to convince them that he will not do anything else to damage their organization's reputation. If he truly reforms and can convince the public he is serious, maybe he'll play again. I think it is completely fair that this burden is on him, though. After all, he alone is responsible for his decisions.

[rams_fan81]

You are talking about how long his suspension will be, and I think it has to be very lengthy. If Pacman got a year suspension and he didn't get convicted of any crimes what do you do with a guy who did what Vick did.