Convictions

Over the past few days the courts have handed down some noteworthy decisions:

1. Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in the dog-fighting ring that he helped to organize. It's a step in the right direction to show the rich and famous that they're not above the law, and also a good stride for animal rights. But you have to wonder why Vick acted so foolishly during the court case when he was only looking at 12-14 months. (And you also have to wonder how he even faced a prison term as low as 12 months in the first place, given the brutality of the crimes.
2. "Lord" Conrad Black was given a sentence of 78 months in prison and ordered to repay over $6 million of money embezzled from shareholders in his company, Hollinger International. This is a light sentence again, considering he could've faced a couple of decades behind bars. At least the US courts proved he wasn't entirely above the law...
3. Robert Pickton was convicted of 6 counts of 2nd degree murder for the killings of prostitutes on his Vancouver area pig farm. He still awaits trial for the murders of 19 other women, and has been implicated (but not charged) in the murders of even more. At the end of the day this guy is going to be behind bars for the rest of his life, but I find it pretty amazing that he wasn't given 1st degree murder convictions. After the first time, he had obviously established what he was doing - hence it was premeditated. I'm also somewhat surprised that Ontarians haven't given nearly as much notice to this case as they did to the Paul Bernardo/Karla Homolka case back in the 90's. This guy is probably Canada's worst serial killer ever (caught?) but he hasn't received nearly as much attention.