The life of the typical professional athlete includes special treatment when in public. With media coverage of the daily lives and lifestyles of these athletes can cause additional pressures to perform as outstanding citizens off the field. Salaries and celebrity status make for potential victims, but also, targets in other criminal activity. Although, a small percentage of professional athletes are involved in crime, the media shifts the public spotlight on these negative events. These events become a celebrity court case and often generate the media to focus on the individual opposed to the professional team and organization. A small percentage of professional athlete crimes make it is as far as going to trial for the crime, often due to paying for expensive lawyers for representation to agree on heavy fines and community service pleabargains. Whereas the general public who cannot afford the top lawyers and ability to pay heavy fines, may find themselves part of the working criminal justice system and spend time in corrections for similar crimes. Does this present a problem to our own American rights by not treating everyone as equals, or does this show a criminal justice system that is trying to minimize tax payer's costs and promote crime awareness? The celebrity status of professional athletes gives the criminal justice system a needed piece to help promote criminal awareness and ability to give back to the community, however, this also gives the opportunity to promote and balance Constitutional rights during the legal process.
B. Professional athlete criminal photos
year of year crime statistics
Bill of Rights
Salary statistics for athletes
Media coverage rates
Salaries from endorsements
I really enjoyed your introduction! I like that you gave a descriptive senario of the treatment of celebrities vs. the average american. And then went into giving your opinion about the topic.
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