Charles Barkley, the TNT NBA analyst and former NBA superstar, has begun a three day jail sentence for drunk driving. That is, if you consider Tent City in Maricopa County to be jail. This particular jail does not house inmates in jail cells, but rather in tents. Barkley has his very own tent, (for his own safety of course) and is said to be acting like a “model inmate” according to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Preferential treatment certainly looks to be the order of the day to most observers. Barkley has his own tent, his meals delivered, and work release on Sunday from 8am to 8pm. Then on Monday he leaves at 8am for good. That adds up to 36 hours in jail. Far from the three day sentence he was given, and not even close to his original sentence that was 10 days before he got it reduced. I don’t know many people that get off that easily.

Barkley, who is considered one of the all time NBA greatest players, is known for his controversial nature and comments as an NBA studio analyst. In response to his arrest, Barkley said that he made a mistake and would have “to take the beat down” whatever that means. It is a punishment for a crime, not a man being persecuted.

Barkley was, after all, charged with drunken driving. He blew a blood-alcohol level of .149 percent, which is just short of twice the legal limit. This was not a case of borderline drinking here. This was all out drunk as far as the law is concerned. He was pulled over after leaving a Scottsdale nightclub on December 31. He failed the field sobriety test as well.

The troubling part of this story is not Barkley being in jail. The troubling part is the fact that he is in kiddie jail, and being treated with kid gloves on top of it. The sentence, which was far to short to start with, got reduced drastically. Now he is getting away with only serving a snippet of the jail sentence that he was reduced to as well due to work release. The whole thing is a joke.

Maybe the Maricopa Country legal system was afraid that Sir Charles would be upset if they threw the book at him. Far from deserving the book thrown at him, Charles should have at least had the page thrown at him. As it is, Charles Barkley is getting a minor slap on his large wrist. The man easily could have hired a driver for this occasion, or any other. He is a millionaire many times over, and this does make the offense even more offensive.

Have fun spending the weekend camping Charles. You and the Maricopa Country legal team have set one heck of an example for our youth.

Tagged with: charles barkley, drunk driving, nba, nba superstar

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