It seems that everyone in America has an opinion about the Ray Rice domestic-assault case, so I might as well throw out my two cents' worth. I find myself in the unpopular and uncomfortable position of appearing almost to defend Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL. That is not my intention. I do not condone how the league handled this — at least not initially. My main issue is with what the prosecution in New Jersey did when it adjudicated this matter.
I am trying to find exactly where it is written that the NFL, or any other business, has a legal or even a moral or ethical obligation to levy extrajudicial sanctions on its employees for crimes committed outside of work that have nothing to do with their employment. When did this happen? Punishment for committing a crime is supposed to be the responsibility of the state through the police, the prosecution and the courts.
Having said that, I do believe the NFL has an obligation to monitor and sanction certain behaviors of its members, including the owners, management and coaches, as well as the players. This is a very influential and public entity that receives tax benefits and enormous public exposure. The league should use its police power to set a standard of behavior for certain conduct, and I understand there is a code of conduct contained in the NFL's standard contract.
However, compared to how the Atlantic County prosecutor's office handled this crime, the NFL actually acted much more forcefully. Prosecutors, for sure, had all of the video evidence and didn't even give Rice a slap on the wrist. They allowed him to plead to a misdemeanor, then set that conviction aside to let him go into a diversion program. I do not know what is required to complete this particular diversion program. I practiced law for 20 years, so I am not guessing what happened here. I would be willing to bet it involves little more than Rice completing an anger-management course, then promising not to do this again. Upon completion of this horrific punishment, his misdemeanor conviction would be dropped and the entire sordid affair would be treated as if it never happened. "Yes, judge. I promise not to do it again." (Until he does.)
On Thursday morning, the New Jersey prosecutor claimed that Rice did not get preferential treatment. He said that this is how these matters are routinely handled. Seriously? This is how they routinely handle third-degree felony domestic-assault cases in Atlantic County? If so, that is actually worse than giving Rice preferential treatment for a being a star football player. This is a serious, prison-sentence-level felony! And you routinely allow this to slide by letting the perpetrator apologize and promise not to do it again? This is the gist of what the prosecutor claims is his excuse for not doing his job.
Of course, the "reason" is that Janay Rice did not want to go forward. Too bad! It's not up to her. If a domestic-assault victim refuses to cooperate, which such victims routinely do, the case normally gets dismissed because there simply isn't enough other evidence to get a conviction, not because it's the right thing to do. Except, these things are rarely filmed. We've all seen all of the gory details on the videos in this case, and the prosecution did not need Janay Rice's testimony to convict this thug. All they would have needed was for someone from hotel security to testify to authenticate the video and Ray Rice would be off to jail, if not prison. The film speaks for itself. The commission of a crime, any crime, is considered to be committed against society as a whole and not just the specific victim. The prosecution had an obligation to go forward with or without Janay Rice's cooperation.
Then there is the judge's culpability for this travesty. The judge was under no obligation to allow this plea deal. He or she could have thrown the prosecutors out of court and told them to come back with a better deal on behalf of the people of New Jersey. Why didn't this happen, and why isn't anyone asking that question?
Given how lightly the state of New Jersey treated this case, was it really unreasonable for Roger Goodell to look at that initially and figure: If the police, prosecutors and courts treated this as laughably lightly as they did, would a two-game suspension really not be enough? Think about it. A two-game suspension would cost Rice hundreds of thousands of dollars, which has a far greater impact than what the Atlantic County courts did to him. Of course it was not enough, and I was as dismayed as anyone that this was how lightly the NFL punished him (before later suspending him indefinitely). But, again, Atlantic County has a greater obligation than the NFL does.
I must also give Goodell a little credit for admitting that the league screwed up. The NFL did not have a specific policy in place to deal with such a situation and, of course, it should have. Does your company have such a policy? How about the media outlets employing all of the outraged pontificators? Maybe they do, but I doubt it. Shouldn't they? These businesses have the same public responsibility as does the NFL. Maybe more. At least the NFL has such a policy in place now. Is it good enough? That is a matter of opinion. I think it is, but I certainly can see others not sharing that belief.
The NFL deserves all of the beating it is getting for how this case was handled. I don't have a problem with that. Let's keep in mind that the league is not alone.
Dennis Carstens lives in Eagan and is the author of two legal mysteries, "The Key To Justice" and "Desperate Justice."
