In February, then-NFL running back Ray Rice assaulted his then-fiancée Janay Palmer. His conduct was inexcusable, and the response by law enforcement and the NFL was tepid. Mr. Rice was initially suspended for two games, and, although he was prosecuted, he escaped serious punishment by entering a diversion program. More information has slowly come to light, and public opinion has turned against Mr. Rice and the NFL’s response.
Domestic violence is a hard crime to address. The victim is often uncooperative. It is very hard to tell the difference between a one-time abuser who will learn from his (or, occasionally, her) mistakes, benefit from counseling, and return to be a good member of the family, and a manipulative sadist who will routinely assault his (or, I guess, her) significant other until prevented by a long prison term. The system probably doesn’t want to break up a family in the first instance, and probably does in the second, when it can tell them apart.
Further, the prosecution is often as hard on the victim of domestic violence as it is on the defendant. If a husband and father assaults his wife and is arrested and jailed for a couple of months before trial, then the family often loses its income for that time, and loses whatever assistance the husband provides around the house. Being a single parent is even more difficult when that status is unexpected.
As a result, the victim may oppose prosecution. Sometimes that is because the victim is cowed and frightened. But sometimes it is because the practical consequences to the defendant are also hard for the victim. The wife/victim may well want the defendant to be released just so he can go back to work, and may want for him to return home instead of being forbidden to have contact with the victim before trial or as a condition for probation, because, if he can’t return home, he has to spend money for an apartment.
Mr. Rice has been “released,” i.e., fired, by his former employer, the Baltimore Ravens. Perhaps he deserves it; if the NFL is going to punish players for conduct unrelated to athletic performance, then Mr. Rice deserves a more serious punishment than his initial two-game suspension. I have no way to know whether Mr. Rice is beyond redemption, but I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
But Mr. Rice’s release won’t just hurt him, it will hurt Janay Rice. Her new husband has lost a high-paying job, and his career prospects are hardly promising. Ms. Rice has made it clear that she supports her husband and opposes his punishment, and whether the Rices marriage can be saved is more up to them than anyone else. Punishing Ray Rice in a way that hurts Janay Rice is poor justice, and it’s hardly going to encourage the next victim of domestic violence to come forward.
