Free the Vick 10,000

I notice that superstar quarterback/dogfighter Michael Vick has enormous support in the black community. Either they don't believe the dogfighting charges or think they don't matter very much compared to the real crime here--the entire racist white establishment trying to bring down another proud successful black man. The NAACP issued a statment reminding everyone of the legal presumption of innocence. Too bad they didn't think to do that during the Duke lacrosse controversy. They just assumed everyone was guilty as charged and went on from there.

It's easy to see why the NAACP would jump at the chance to weigh in on the Duke lacrosse rape fraud case. For more than a decade it's been impossible to get through a single season without reading about black football or basketball players being charged with raping white women. The frequency with which white athletes rape black women, on the other hand, is so rare that the FBI doesn't even have statistics on it. So when a white athlete was charged with raping a black woman, it was, to the NAACP, a gift sent from heaven. It was a chance to get back at all those critics who wonder why black men rape so many white women.

All that being said, two points ought to to be made on Vick's behalf: The federal case against him couldn't be that strong if all they are charging him with is conspiracy (conspiracy is what you charge when you can't prove anything else). And two, prosecutors lie. They lied in the lacrosse rape fraud case in Durham. They lie every day in courtrooms all across the country.

Because this is such a high profile case it will go to trial sooner rather than later. And when it does Vick may never be convicted of anything, especially if the defense manages to get a couple of blacks on the jury. My prediction: even in the unlikely event Vick is convicted he' ll never spend a day in jail. There's a good chance that any blacks who get on the jury will be under severe pressure not to convict them. It they are forced by the facts (and the other jurors) to convict him of something they will pick the lightest possible charge (and one that carries no jail time). Vick will be back on the field next year.