Has Ray Rice Cost Mark Fuller His Job?
Ever since a video of Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancé and present wife in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino, the national spotlight has been on domestic abuse, with the media, as well as the public, out for blood. This scandal couldn’t have come at a worse time for alleged wife-beater and United States District Judge Mark Fuller.
Fuller, a Bush appointee, has served in Alabama’s Middle District since 2002, and is best known for presiding over Don Siegelman’s 2006 corruption trial. Judge Fuller once again made the news in August when he was arrested on domestic violence charges. On August 10th police responded to a 911 call made by Fuller’s wife, who, with visible facial lacerations, alleged that he dragged her across the floor by the hair after she confronted him about an affair. Fuller was charged with misdemeanor battery.
On September 5th Fuller accepted a plea deal, agreeing to attend a domestic violence program once a week for twenty-four weeks and undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation. Upon completion of this program the record of his arrest would be expunged and he would in all likelihood be allowed to continue no worse for the wear and his place on the bench intact.
Likewise, at first it looked as if Ray Rice’s own domestic abuse scandal would go away with little more than a slap on the wrist. Former Baltimore Ravens running back was arrested along with Janay Palmer Rice after an altercation at Atlantic City’s Revel Casino on February 15th. Mr. Rice was also accepted into a program allowing his record to be expunged upon completion of a twelve month program and was initially suspended for only two games by the NFL.
This changed drastically after the full video of the incident, showing Rice punching Palmer in the face surfaced on September 8th. Rice was both released by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL the same day, amid intense media furor over domestic violence, both in the NFL and in the public.
Fuller might have hoped for his case to blow over, but this now appears less likely every day. As a Bush appointee Fuller could have hoped if not for the support of Republicans, then at least for them to decline to comment on the matter. But amid growing public outrage directed at perpetrators of domestic abuse, several key Alabama Republicans, including Senators Sessions and Shelby, Congresswoman Roby, Congressmen Brooks, Bachus, Byrne, and Aderholt, as well as Governor Bentley, with First Lady Dianne Bentley beside him, have all made public statements that he should not keep his seat. If he does not resign, Congress could very well consider impeachment proceedings.
It could be that a Baltimore Ravens running back has put the final nail in the coffin of an Alabama Federal Judge’s tenure.
By Joseph Mayes, Southern Torch Political Reporter