Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Miscellaneous Blogs -> Begging the Question

Miscellaneous

: Begging the Question

Crime and Punishment, Take Two

By "Milbarge" and "Fitz-Hume"

A few days ago I wrote about this ongoing controversy in the golf world over an announcer making a jesting comment that golfers should gang up and "lynch" Tiger Woods. Woods, for the record, is clearly ready to let it go, saying everything is "said and done."

My question regarding that fuss was whether the punishment(s) -- the suspension of the announcer and later, the firing of a magazine editor who illustrated a story on the situation with a picture of a noose -- fit the crimes. Now I have another test case:

If you don't care to watch the video, I'll summarize. It's a clip from just after mediocre Maryland had upset #1-ranked and undefeated North Carolina in a basketball game last weekend. The Tarheel fans are clearly distraught (a major overreaction, of course, although the Maryland celebration -- not shown in this clip -- was a little excessive too). About four or five seconds into this clip, the microphones pick up a woman's voice yelling "Go back to the ghetto!"

Presumably, the speaker is a UNC student, and her target was the predominantly black Maryland team. How serious is her crime?

Let's assume we could identify this woman. What should happen to her? Ostracism? Mandatory sensitivity training? Suspension? Expulsion? Should Al Sharpton be invited to speak at the UNC commencement? If she has a part-time job or an internship, should she be fired from that position? Should this comment be attached to her name forever, like another line on her resume? If you knew she said this, and she applied to you for a job after graduation, would you hire her? What if it turned out that she was jokingly yelling at a good friend? I'm not saying your answers have to be the same as they would be for Kelly Tilghman, the golf announcer (and Woods's friend) who made the "lynch" comment. But if they're different, why, and how much?

(Hat tip: The FanHouse.)

Full post as published by Begging the Question on January 23, 2008 (boomark / email).