Re: “Portland’s ties to concert promoter in doubt over his domestic assault conviction” (April 3):
No matter how egregious Alex Gray’s assault of Erica Cole may have been, it is not the role of the community to mete out justice after a judge has already done so. Juries do not decide sentences, and lay people in the community absolutely should not.
In addition to face-to-face testimony, a judge weighs aggravating and mitigating circumstances, past behavior, duress and more. The community, lacking such critical detail, cannot. For due process to work, we must trust that the judge handed down proportional punishment.
Carrying out additional punishment of Mr. Gray through boycotts or other means is not only inappropriately retaliatory but also risks hurting innocent employees or venues that refuse to treat jurisprudence so casually. Social pressure, emotion, political agendas and vindictiveness have no place in America’s penal code.
If the law works as it is supposed to, Mr. Gray will learn from the judge’s prescribed corrective action and will rehabilitate himself.
Marc McCutcheon
South Portland
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