CHICAGO (AP) - Rev. Jesse Jackson, in a speech given to the Chicago branch of the NAACP, has made the claim that serious racial issues are present in the federal government's case against Michael Vick, and may have cost Vick his constitutionally guaranteed right to a fair trial.

Jackson stated to the audience that "We can not sit here and ignore the fact that Michael Vick, and African-American male, was more vigorously prosecuted for this crime than anyone in history, and we must assume that racism played a major role in this." Jackson received thunderous applause from the audience.

Rev. Jackson went on to cite statistics from other dog fighting convictions to point out the disparity between whites and blacks being charged and convicted of that same charge, and also cited Vick as yet another example of overzealous prosecutors whose judgement was possibly clouded by racism.

Jackson said that he may be holding a rally in support of Vick in the Atlanta area during the Falcons first home game, but no definite date has been set yet.