Michael Dorf at Dorf on Law is looking for explanations for the differential treatment of athletes accused of wrongdoing. This is true of sport-related misconduct (why was Tour de France leader Rasmussen kicked off his team and the Tour, while Barry Bonds will break baseball's most-hallowed record sometime next week) or off-field (why has Vick been suspended when Kobe Bryant was not). He asks for a "principle that rationalizes the treatment of these athletes," with the caveat that "different people, different organizations" does not work as an explanation. Some interesting comments, worth looking jumping to look at . My comment, made this morning, is reproduced below:
Unfortunately, the "different people in different organizations" explanation is unavoidable, at least in part.Am I onto something? Feel free to offer your own explanations and justifications, here and over at Dorf on Law. I think his offer of a gold star for the winning explanation still stands.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has asserted (and wielded) a broad power to administratively punish players who run afoul of the law-with running afoul defined as the beginning of the process with the initiation of legal process at arrest/indictment/complaint. In Goodell's view, players' off-field conduct does have direct bearing on fitness for the job, because a player's public likeability and reputation affects the popularity of the game on the field. Agree or disagree with the view, it is the prevailing social policy in the NFL power structure right now. NBA Commissioner David Stern has asserted or sought to wield no such authority.
I think there is a good chance that, if Kobe Bryant played in the NFL now, he would be suspended. If Vick played in the NBA five years ago (or the NFL five years ago, for that matter), he would not have been suspended.
As for Bonds: No formal legal process ever has been instituted against him. He has not been arrested, indicted, or formally accused of anything (contra Vick and Kobe). Reports from last season and earlier this season were that MLB Commissioner was waiting for some indictment of Bonds--tax evasion, perjury, steroid buying, anything--to justify a suspension; no indictment came.
And to distinguish Rasmussen and Bonds on the issue of sport-related misconduct: Bonds has never missed or failed a drug test or otherwise run afoul of the league's steroid policies. As Aron noted, Bonds stands roughly the same position as Lance Armstrong--lots of suggestions and stories, no formal accusations.
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