Blood money from a drunken driver

Bob Weir

RealClearPolitics.com

If you drive drunk, and run down and kill a pedestrian, you’re going to jail, said Bob Weir. But not if you’re a wealthy sports star like Donte Stallworth of the Cleveland Browns; then, you can simply buy your way to freedom.

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In March, the wide receiver got behind the wheel of his Bentley in Miami “with a snootful of booze in his bloodstream” and mowed down 59-year-old construction worker Mario Reyes. If Stallworth had been some nameless slob in a beat-up Plymouth, his victim’s family would be calling for his head and he’d likely get 15 years in prison. But Stallworth, who last year “signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with a $4.75 million signing bonus,” received a sentence of just 30 days in jail as part of a plea bargain that included a confidential financial settlement with Reyes’ survivors. Stallworth’s attorney is already crowing that his client is free to resume his football career; within five years, he could even be approved for limited driving.

It’s hard to decide what’s more infuriating: Stallworth getting away with murder, or Reyes’ family putting a price on a human life—and justice.