Thursday, June 23, 2016

AU writer at AL.com thinks legal system should punish Cam and Hootie

Imagine that—A dyed in the wool Auburn fan thinks that the pair of Alabama football players should suffer some kind of punishment for their arrest on stolen firearm and controlled substance possession.

Knowing the Aubarn Fambly as well as I do, I’m not the least bit surprised. Jody Fuller, an Opelika based writer and comic, penned the piece wherein he fails to acknowledge that anyone accused of a crime in the United States is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Auburn fans might not like that reality, but it is reality nonetheless.

So it is when rival fans hear news that a Bama player has been accused of a crime: Players arrested = players should suffer appropriate consequences via the legal system. End of discussion. Oh, and the rival fans get to determine what’s appropriate and what’s not—see his reference to Brock Turner, the guy out west who got six months for a rape conviction.

Mr. Fuller also doesn’t seem to grasp that the District Attorney in the case, Ouachita Parish District Attorney Jerry Jones is an integral part of the legal system that he thinks should have administered the sentence. If the DA decides not to prosecute—regardless of his reasoning for choosing that option—then in our system of justice the legal system has spoken.

Mr. Fuller makes no mention of any mitigating circumstances at work in this case. That’s because neither Mr. Fuller, nor me, nor anyone reading this have any clue as to what mitigating circumstances came into play or how they factored into Jones’ decision not to prosecute.

Mr. Fuller does note that there will likely be consequences imposed by Coach Nick Saban, but dismissively suggests that those consequences will also fail to rise to a boog’s standard for justice.

I suggested that Cam and Hootie should indeed be punished by the program. The difference between myself and Mr. Fuller is that I’m not only able to accept that the legal system has spoken clearly and with final authority, but that I also trust my team’s coach to administer the proper measure of discipline.

Make an example of them? Yes. Judge the appropriateness of the punishment—well, that’s not inside of my hula hoop. That ain’t on my side of the street.

That ain’t my cross to bear.

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