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This blog is the work of an educated civilian, not of an expert in the fields discussed.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Need a Fair and Consistent Process To Deal With Domestic Violence etc. in Sports

A person here cynically notes unless you are caught on tape, punishment for domestic violence is liable to rest on how good of a player you are. I wonder how that applies to Adrian Peterson. I provided the below (here somewhat edited) as a comment.

Reference is made that the NFL is a violent game and this will be translated. Sure. And, war is a violent thing & this will be translated. I also think being a prison guard is likely to screw up with many a brain.  In all cases, the violence is being applied in a more organized and tempered way than might be the case otherwise, plus "everyone" is not going to just go crazy or beat their spouses etc.  Still, statistically, there is likely to more of a problem, particularly given the sort of person sought out here.

But, again, there are lines to be drawn. I think it’s possible, at least likely, to have some or even all of these things and be able set certain boundaries. No, one person is not to blame here writ large.  But, [reference to firing the commissioner] he’s representative and like firing a manager on a team doing bad, it can send a message to all & be a symbol for the future. So, there is an argument to fire a commissioner etc. here. More so if he lied or otherwise is shown to do something to particularly warrant it.

I know few care as to Ray Rice specifically, but am wary about the arbitrary nature of the punishments here as a matter of simple due process. Some video is found. It looks “obvious” that the person is guilty. But, in a neutral court of law, the person gets a mild penalty. The pressure leads, again somewhat arbitrarily, to the person being removed from the team and kept out of football indefinitely. There needs to be a clear system set up here with some safeguards. One can compare A-Rod and him playing as the matter was appealed. The fact some around here [cite to a hobbyhorse of a LGM contributor] him put him out as some sort of victim of the process is notable.

Or, is it really just that they don’t like the drug policy and due process isn’t really the point? I think the latter myself is probably the case for some. So, set out wrongs (domestic violence, harm to children, whatever), a process — even if criminal prosecution is not obtained in various cases — to follow & apply it consistently.

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