BALTIMORE, Maryland September 9,2014 - Ray Rice, the Raven's now-former running back, was caught red-handed in an ugly domestic violence incident. He apologized to everyone involved during the summer when the incident became public. The NFL held a hearing at which Rice testified. It was known at the time that there was a video from inside of an elevator where the incident took place, but the NFL - now an admitted lacky for the politically-correct-at-all-cost crowd - just couldn't wait to get out there and have at Ray Rice, and they promptly suspended him for two games. And, they fined him one-half million dollars. Now, there is an unconfirmed rumor that the NFL leaders, including the Commissioner, had access to and viewed the video last summer before they levied the punishment on Mr. Rice.
In what used to be the real world, a wrong was done, a substantial wrong. No criminal charges were levied. But the NFL investigated, held an evidentiary hearing, took testimony from Ray Rice, found him in violation of league rules, and levied a quite substantial punishment. In what used to be the real world, that would have been the end of the matter. But more and more of late, including in the public courtrooms across our country, the politically correct, which is another way of saying elitists, or people who think they are so well educated, smart, and worthy of having their opinions count for way more than your opinion or my opinion, more and more these people and their lackies are reconvening tribunals and doling out punishments a second and third time. So if you do something that is on the hit list of the politically correct, you will be tried and convicted and sentenced, and if it is the opinion of the elitists that the penalty wasn't up to their current standards, they will add their own punishments on top of the one given at the end of your trial. This is what happened to Ray Rice.
One thing that is perfectly clear is that Ray Rice had whacked his girlfriend - who is now his wife - and she apparently also whacked him, but that is irrevelvant here because it is the punishment of Ray Rice that is my issue. My issue is now whether the final penalty is fair for the crime. I believe it is. If the NFL had suspended Rice indefinetly from the gitgo, and if the Ravens had cut Rice immediately after he admitted to whacking his girlfriend, I would have no problem with it. There is no excuse for whacking a woman. None. If doing such a thing is something you do, you get what you deserve, and it can't be too severe.
My issue is called double jeopardy. The NFL isn't officially bound by the age old concept that you only get punished once for a crime, because the NFL is not the government. But the NFL operates in these United States, where Double Jeopardy has been part of our legal system since we broke away from England those two-plus centuries ago. The NFL and the Ravens should do more than pay lip service to the concept. They were in such a hurry to sanction Rice that they had to get out there and levy the punishment. There is no allegation that Rice was suppressing the video. His apologies were sincere and the original punishment - a one-half million dollar fine and two game suspension - was not something to sneeze at. The NFL was lambasted for the "lightness" of the penalty, but in my world, one-half million dollars isn't a little bit of nothing. It is a lot of money, enough to make anyone with half a brain remember their crime and the potential punsishment for a second offense. It was a real penalty. If, in retrospect, the NFL and the Ravens, believe they were too easy with Rice, they should correct the error the next time the rule is violated. This, in fact, is what they did. Last week, as Rice began his two game suspension, the NFL announced that henceforth all incidents of domestic violence will result in a six game suspension if it is your first offense. For a second offense, you will get a lifetime exclusion. They should apologize for making the original sentence too lenient. They should not punish a person like Rice because the politically correct crowd started howling when some publicity hound dumped a video on the internet.
But, alas, the video was dumped on the net and boy did the you know what hit the fan. As an aside, I believe this incident is an indictment of the NFL Players Association. How can a player be punished by the league, and then get punished again for the same offense. Did Rice insist his punishment be meted out quickly in case the video surfaced. If he did, it is being kept a secret. No, instead Rice admitted to striking his then=girlfriend and now wife. Say you are charged with assaulting a co=worker. In court, you admit you struck the person. You plead guilty and the judge sentences you to a heft fine and two weekends in jail. You pay the fine and report to the jail for the first weekend. Then, the state's attorney calls the judge and says, "Your Honor, we just found out that the person the defendant struck was old. We believe you should change his sentence to life in prison. And the judge says, dag=nab-it, you're right Mr. Prosecuter. I hereby change the sentence to life with no possibility for parole.
The NFL and the Ravens were quick to get on the good side of the political correctness crowd, and so they punished Ray Rice AGAIN. Now, I understand that there is another video that is full length and with sound and this video is said to lessen the totality of Rice's offenses. Will the NFL tweek the punishment in this case in view of this new video? Don't hold your breath. Hold your nose.
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