Where in the World is Due Process (And What’s Up with the Lack of Concrete Evidence)?
I continue to notice a trend in our society and I have no doubt it will continue to get worse. Additionally, even when due process is followed, it seems to be flawed and/or biased and the results appear tainted and not on solid footing.
Webster’s defines due process as Law: the official and proper way of doing things in a legal case: the rule that a legal case must be done in a way that protects the rights of all the people involved.” Based on this definition, this does not seem to be a protected right for all people. There is a rising “Social Mob Mentality” that tends to guide (for better or worse) the punishments for transgressions.
I am not condoning or adding any commentary to the many transgressions that are highlighted on social media; what I am saying is that there tends to be an immediate reaction to the so-called facts and, much more often than not, these “facts” turn out to be half-truths. There are always two sides to every story and the truth usually lies somewhere in between. Don’t rush to judgment – wait till all of the facts…true facts are uncovered and then we can began the due process and passing judgment. Information is over exposed in today’s social media environment and just because you see it on Twitter does not mean it is correct.
Another facet to this ongoing quandary is due process. For example, the “Deflate-gate” scandal has been investigate for months and a report was issued last week that it was “more probable than not” that Brady was “at least generally aware” that balls were deflated. The NFL is its own enemy in this instance because, under NFL rules, the report had to conclude it was “more probable than not”. I am not a lawyer but I would not think a report like this would hold any water in a court of law. Regardless of the NFL’s standards, this, in my opinion, is not close to concrete evidence.
Many other factors come into play but I believe Mr. Wordsmith got a little too much play in this report.
The report and subsequent penalties have taken the spotlight away from the root cause of the problem – the NFL and its lax policies. Why do we allow NFL teams to utilize their own footballs? Why was this ever an option? How did the referees lose control of the footballs? If this was known in many circles as an issue, why was it not addressed? Too many unanswered questions that come down to lax policies and enforcement.
Make sure you allow due process to play out…and let’s not point fingers but focus on the root cause of the problem.