Was a jerk and a fool to bring his loaded, illegally possessed gun into a night club - but he must have felt compelled by the "culture" (see Mike Vick's 60mins comments) to be 'hot.' But I doubt this law was enacted to punish fools, it was meant as a way to get bad guys off the streets. The dimwit Burress decided he needed to 'bang' (sorry, i couldn't resist) like the lifers to have some cred'. what a dope, yes. But there was nothing aggravated, or malicious in his action, and he's clearly not a career criminal the DA needs to slam the gate on.
Fools probably need about 1-3 months in a true-life stinky to realize what an ass they've been - especially if they know another similar offense means 5yrs hard time, minimum. Burress was the classic picture book conviction the white folks uptown can deceitfully insist was equal justice for all. Two years? Stallworth (and many, many others) kills someone and doesn't get near that kind of time. Life ain't fair, aight, but neither is this sentence - it's all for the scrapbook and the street talk. Bull$&#T
I live in Manhattan and have two young kids, so my answer is definitely influenced by that fact and I admit it up front.
Your post is why we have a democratic process, why "elections matter" and why there are DA's and courts to sort this stuff out. As a Manhattan resident I'm very happy that these laws are in place and I'm very happy that the DA pursued the matter in this fashion. These laws don't stop all gun violence, but they help put NYC among the best cities in the country for low gun crime stats. A very diverse group of Manhattan residents voted for the mayor, DA, city council and state reps who legislated in this regard and enforced that legislation. If you disagree, move hear and vote. Out next mayoral and DA election is in November.
You say there was nothing "aggravated" in his action. I disagree. Burress is 6'5", my kids are 3'4". If that idiot is walking down the street with his Glock (no safety) in his waistband and the weapon discharges and my kids are nearby, they are in danger. You'll reply that "well, that's not very likely." Agreed. But one of the reasons these laws are in place is that things that are "not very likely" happen every day in every city.
As to differentiated treatment, according to the NY Daily News today two years was the typical sentence for this crime last year in New York. Very few get a shorter sentence. Those who do either have a case where the facts are ambiguous or in dispute; they certainly didn't try to hide their weapon, didn't try to check into a hospital under an assumed name after the crime, didn't have a friend transport the weapon illegally back to New Jersey, didn't stonewall the DA throughout the process, didn't try to sweet-talk a Grand Jury into nullifying the crime by not indicting him and didn't confess to the crime to the Grand Jury.
Sorry, this was not "differentiated justice." He's lucky the DA didn't insist on going to trial and opening his prosecution with the reading of Burress' confession under oath to the grand jury, when 3 1/2 years would have been the mandatory minimum sentence the judge could have handed down.
As to the Stallworth point, that's another matter and we might agree more than we disagree there, tho Stallworth turned himself in, stayed at the scene, called 911, admitted his wrongdoing and handled himself with decency throughout the entire process. But that's a separate matter.
