Why has Ray Rice\’s knockout punch to Janay Palmer – his then-girlfriend-now-wife – and the termination of his contract with the National Football League\’s Baltimore Ravens (at least for the moment), led the news for two days?
I\’m sure most of you, by now, have seen the video of Rice decking Palmer in the elevator of a New Jersey casino, then dragging her unconscious into the hallway. This shows Allen to be a violent, brutal, woman-beating jerk of the first order (not that she\’s any beaut either, by the way. Palmer apparently shouted obscenities at, spit at, and swung at Rice as well).
And I\’m sure most of you are aware that, by marrying him, she is either deep into battered woman syndrome, or S&M, or a gold-digger who figures the beatings are worth it to be married to a rich, famous guy – or just so unconditionally in love with Rice that none of this matters.
Here\’s a question for you: Who cares? If Ray Rice is who he is, and his victim/wife is ok enough with it to marry him, that\’s the way it goes. Abusive husbands – rich or otherwise – and women who marry them, are certainly not hard to find.
Having said that, however, I\’ll name one person who does care. Me.
If you want to know why (and I guess you do, since you\’re still reading)…
…it is because I feel the importance of this story has nothing to do with the incident itself. The importance of this story is about how “justice” is meted out in New Jersey.
Regular readers of this blog know that I have written several times about Shaneen Allen, a single mother who lives in Pennsylvania. After Ms. Allen, who works at two jobs to support her children, had been robbed, she applied for, and got, a gun permit, so she could protect herself. Last October, Ms. Allen, while in New Jersey, was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. At that time, in an effort to avoid any misunderstanding, she voluntarily advised the police officer she had the gun in her car.
The result? Shaneen Allen now faces (depending on which article you read) somewhere between 3 1/2 and 10 years in prison. Why? Because New Jersey does not recognize Pennsylvania\’s gun permit – a fact which Ms. Allen either was unaware of or had forgotten.
Now: why does this have relevance to the Ray Rice story?
Because the District Attorney prosecuting Ms. Allen\’s case – jim mcclain – also “prosecuted” (if the term even fits) the Ray Rice case. Here is a comparison of how they are being handled:
-Ray Rice knocked a woman unconscious and dragged her along the floor. But he was a famous football player…and we can\’t have famous football players face punishment for trifles like beating the crap out of women. So he was allowed to apply for a pre-trial intervention program in New Jersey, which is offered to first-time offenders.
(Translation: he did not have to pay for his crime.) Football Ray walked away, no doubt with a smile on his face.
-But Shaneen Allen – who is not a famous football player; just a hard-working woman who needed to protect herself, and who made the mistake of being honest to a New Jersey cop? mcclain is pursuing her with the fervor of Captain Ahab going after Moby Dick.
Which should tell you who the “Dick” is in this story.
When I first wrote about Shaneen Allen, in July, I begged that someone – Governor Christie in particular – should get involved and put an end to this disgraceful miscarriage of justice.
Well, no one did.
So I\’m going to beg a second time now, using the same words from my initial blog:
Someone – I\’m voting for Governor Christie, either directly or through an intermediary- has to take jim mcclain aside and read him the riot act. Tell him that what he is doing to Shaneen Allen does not come within 1,000,000 miles of actual justice. Tell him that he had damn well better run, not walk, back to his office and make these charges go away.
Do it, Governor Christie. Even if you don\’t give a damn about Shaneen Allen (which, after waiting almost two months for you to act, apparently is the case), then how about doing it so that this disgraceful episode does not come back to haunt you in a future political campaign….maybe as soon as two years down the road.
Since you\’re certainly no stranger to self-interest, maybe this is the reason is that will put you over the top and get you to do the right thing.
I certainly hope it is.
