What Exactly is “Due Process?”
Twitter is the megaphone of the mob.
Lee Geiger
From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
- Due process (noun): 1) a course of formal proceedings (as legal proceedings) carried out regularly and in accordance with established rules and principles- called also “procedural due process”…2) a judicial requirement that enacted laws may not contain provisions that result in the unfair, arbitrary, or unreasonable treatment of an individual- called also “substantive due process.”
Memo to Merriam-Webster–You need to add one more: 3) the practice of sharing emotional and personal judgments on various media platforms (social, digital, print, etc…) and demanding instantaneous, reactionary decision-making based frequently on less-than-perfect information—called also “microwavable due process.”
I thought about this while cooling my heels Friday afternoon after my return flight home got cancelled. Blessed with nothing but time, I tuned into Commissioner Roger Goodell’s State of the NFL press conference. Several seconds into answering his first question, it was clear to me this was a fight Goodell couldn’t “win.” The mob didn’t want answers; they wanted blood. That bothered me.
Every reasonable person agrees that domestic violence and child abuse are wrong. And no one should feel good about the reactive, inconsistent way in which the NFL and its teams have dealt with player discipline in recent days, or even recent years. But why should we be surprised? Professionals in the criminal justice system, including lawmakers, judges, and police, have had a difficult time determining the appropriate punishment for domestic violence and child abuse offenders. Moreover, the rules and procedures for accessing the factors beyond simply the nature of the offense can vary from state to state. These issues are difficult and complicated, and cannot be easily reduced to a press conference, a sound bite, or a 140-character tweet.
Let’s take the case of Mr. Goodell. He was hired in 2006 by the owners of the thirty-two NFL franchises. According to Forbes, during Goodell’s watch league revenues have grown by 42% and the value of the average NFL franchise has grown by 94%. That’s a pretty good job if you ask me, and worthy of keeping him around. Did Goodell fumble the ball when it came to disciplining Ray Rice? No doubt, but I’m not sure that’s enough to fire him on the spot. I’ll reserve my judgment of Goodell’s future until former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s completes his investigation of the Ray Rice matter. In this particular case, that’s my version of “due process.” If Goodell lied or perpetrated a cover-up, then let’s lynch him to a goal post.
Then again, if anger and mob rule is the only way to determine discipline, let’s make Rush Limbaugh the next NFL commissioner.