National Football League from United States Senators: zero tolerance on domestic violence

Sunday, September 14, 2014

National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell received a letter from sixteen female United States Senators on Thursday calling for the NFL to adopt a zero tolerance policy on domestic violence.

Seal of the US Senate.
Image: US Senate.

The senators criticized the NFL for their new domestic violence policy enacted in August. The new policy says a player will receive a six game suspension for their first offense.

A video of Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice assaulting the woman who has since married him was recently released by website TMZ. The assault took place in a elevator at an Atlantic City, New Jersey casino. Rice was initially given a two game suspension; later, following the video release, the Ravens terminated Rice's contract and the NFL indefinitely suspended him.

The bipartisan group of senators said, "If you violently assault a woman, you shouldn't get a second chance to play in the NFL."

The league stated they had initiated an independent investigation by former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller into the Rice incident.

The cross-party signatories were, from the Democratic PartyBarbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, of CaliforniaDebbie Stabenow, MichiganAmy Klobuchar, MinnesotaPatty Murray and Maria Cantwell, WashingtonJeanne Shaheen, New HampshireKirsten Gillibrand, New YorkBarbara Mikulski, MarylandMazie Hirono, HawaiiHeidi Heitkamp, North DakotaElizabeth Warren, MassachusettsTammy Baldwin, WisconsinKay Hagan, North Carolina;  and, from the Republican Party, Senators Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Susan Collins of Maine.


Sources