When a woman is attacked, even in passing, society is quick to respond with a backlash. Approximately 85,000 men and 1.3 million women are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States. Intimate partner violence made up 20% of all nonfatal violent crime experienced by women in 2001. In a relationship this can be devastating for the victim as it’s a complete loss of control in the situation. The Ray Rice incident is only one of many of these crimes committed each year.
In February TMZ released a video of Ray Rice, back then a running back for the Baltimore Ravens, hitting his wife while they were in the elevator at an Atlantic City casino in New Jersey. The blow appears to knock Janay Rice out. Ray is then seen on camera dragging his wife out of the elevator face down until someone comes to Janay’s aide. The couple were charged with a misdemeanor by a law official and arrested. Later Ray Rice’s charge was turned into a felony and Janay’s charge dropped.
So, how is the NFL handling all this? The security video in question of the incident was turned over to the NFL by a law enforcement official in April. Later on April 9 the same law enforcement official received a voicemail from the NFL offices thanking the official for the video. The NFL claims it was not aware of anyone in its offices having possession of the video or who saw the video before it was made public.
In response to this Ray Rice has been suspended indefinitely from the Ravens. He is currently in a pretrial intervention program that allows him to avoid jail time. In order to get the bottom of things the NFL has decided to launch its own investigation into the incident. Robert Mueller is heading the investigation and gathering evidence about what happened. He is also working alongside two trusted NFL officials to gather evidence and information. Overseeing this probe in the NFL are John Mara and Art Rooney II.
It should be noted the NFL claims it did try to get a hold of the video in February and May. However, New Jersey law prohibits this while a police investigation is going on. The League never asked the Atlantic Casino for the video of the incident.
Only time will tell if Ray Rice will be brought to justice for his crimes. There is still a lot in the dark about the situation. The NFL claiming they never had the video, but someone from their offices saw it. Whether the investigation will turn up evidence that can help bring the incident into a clearer focus as to what transpired at the Atlantic casino. All we can do is wait to see how the investigation plays out, and hope justice is served.
NOTE: Domestic Violence Statics was taken from the American Bar Association website. The exact page is here.
