The NFL plans to toughen its penalties for domestic violence cases, like a one-year ban for players who were found to have committed it the second time around, according to a source quoted by The Washington Post.
If implemented, the new policy could establish guidelines like a four to six-game suspension without pay for the first offense, said the source. The plans are in light with the heavy criticisms that the league got after it suspended for two games Baltimore Raven Ray Rice for allegedly hitting Janay Palmer.
Numerous media outlets called the suspension insufficient and added that it sends the wrong signal about the NFL's attitude on domestic violence.
The Washington Post quoted one person who has information on the league's deliberations as saying: "We need to have stricter penalties. I think you will see that. I believe the commissioner and others would like to see stricter penalties. We need to be more vigilant."
The league has refused to comment on the story. Meanwhile, the NFL Players Association has reportedly been not involved in the deliberations.
Rice has been banned for the first two games of the upcoming season without pay for hitting Palmer, who's now his wife. He was also fined another game check based on his salary last season. He stands to lose half a million dollars due to the penalty.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has defended the league's penalty on Rice, saying that the punishment was consistent with the way the league treated previous cases.
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