Ray Rice Video Points Congress to ‘Forceful Initiative’ on Domestic Violence
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US Senate(WASHINGTON) — The Ray Rice episode is spurring members of Congress to develop new ways to force sports leagues to more aggressively punish domestic violence cases, with rumblings of bipartisan efforts to make sure leagues and franchises don’t minimize such allegations in the future.
In the latest episode of the ESPN-ABC News podcast “Capital Games,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the fact that only “gruesome, gripping footage” of the alleged assault led the NFL to suspend Rice indefinitely suggests that pro sports entities still don’t get the gravity of domestic violence.
Blumenthal, who led the charge in Congress calling for a harsher penalty when the Rice incident first surfaced earlier this year, said he’s planning to huddle with both Democratic and Republican colleagues to react to the fallout. The reaction may include legislation on Capitol Hill, though no plans have been put forward yet, he said.
“I am going to be talking to my colleagues while I’m here, literally, these next days and weeks, in trying to put together a more forceful initiative and more aggressive encouragement, whether it’s in legislation or some other way — so that the NFL and other major sports leagues address this problem more effectively,” Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal said the NFL finally reached the “right result” with the indefinite suspension of Rice and the Baltimore Ravens’ move to terminate his contract. But even the NFL’s new, stiffer penalties for domestic violence aren’t adequate, he said, and the senator added that he hopes the league realizes that before Congress would force further action.
“The NFL should stiffen its penalty [regime],” he said. “Perhaps Congress should intervene and act. But my hope is that the NFL will take the leadership and send the message that this kind of assault and violence is intolerable.”
Blumenthal said he’s also troubled by the way the Ravens were involved “stage-managing” the apology issued by Rice’s wife, who was his fiancée at the time of the alleged assault in an Atlantic City, New Jersey casino in February.
“She was put on stage, apologized for her role — in effect aggravating this syndrome of blaming the victim. And so that is really exactly the opposite of the kind of message that advocates and experts on domestic violence want to see shown,” Blumenthal said.
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