There is little doubt the nationally televised assault by Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice exposed to a national audience a kind of domestic violence which is often hidden behind closed doors. Rice, with a single blow from his left hand, rendered his girlfriend completely unconscious. Moments later, he is shown dragging the limp and unconscious body out of the elevator.
Results of this televised "event" has led to national outrage and demands that retaliatory punishment be immediately thrust upon a man caught up in the glare of notoriety much like a moth blinded by a momentary glare of a rapidly approaching vehicle.
In efforts to accommodate the growing public anger, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in an attempt to "get it right," suspended Rice "indefinitely" thus terminating any income from the National Football league. Corporate sponsors quickly followed by cancelling endorsements.
Now that Rice has little or no income, his reputation destroyed and a primary subject of national contempt, can we consider his punishment complete? Probably not; he is still facing criminal charges and lengthy court proceedings without financial means to pay for it.
One has to wonder what happened to the idea a person is innocent until proven guilty? One can argue the televised assault is convincing evidence of his guilt, so why do we need a trial? Conversely, how are the actions taken here any different from the old western sagas when local townspeople are so certain of guilt they "string-him-up," slap the back of a horse and a so-called criminal is left hanging from the end of a rope without benefit of a trial?
The Fifth Amendment: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury. . . nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy . . ."
Because this man's actions were video recorded, does this mean his Constitutional rights are somehow suspended?
Some may recall the NFL suffered public criticism in 1994 when O.J. Simpson was arrested in connection with the murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson. Again in 1995, Warren Moon, hall of fame quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, was arrested for apparent assault of his wife Felicia Moon. The NFL, at that time, denied it had any responsibility to act. Greg Aiello, a league representative, was quoted by the Washington Post: "We're not the criminal justice system. We can't cure every ill in society."
Domestic abuse and violence is not limited to the NFL; it is a massive problem in the U.S. According to data provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, (based on figures acquired for years 1998 to 2002), there are an estimated 1.3 million women physically assaulted by an intimate partner every year. Statistics also reveal that, on average, more than three women and one man are murdered by their intimate partners every day in the U.S.
Even so, when a "non-NFL" person is charged with domestic abuse, the head of a large corporate enterprise does not suspend an employee "indefinitely" before he is actually tried and convicted.
Ray McDonald a 49er defensive end was recently arrested for domestic violence. The 49er organization did not bend to the considerable pressure to suspend McDonald; instead, their position was respect for the due process of law and they would not flinch from that principle because of public speculation.
It appears the San Francisco forty-niners are the only NFL organization to get it right.