Guest Post by Morbo
I shudder to think of the number of Americans sitting in prisons because of low-level drug offenses.
Kids are locked up next to armed robbers, murderers and rapists because they bought and sold some dope. Mandatory sentences are draconian, and our prisons swell thanks to the right-wing obsession of fighting an unwinnable “war on drugs.”
Don’t get me wrong. Illegal drugs can be dangerous. I don’t use them myself. But it seems pretty obvious to me that the biggest drug problem this nation has is with a legal substance called alcohol. I’ve seen people wasted on liquor get into fights, cause car accidents and pass out in spots where no one should pass out. By contrast, some friends of mine who used to smoke a little dope usually just mellowed out and got the munchies.
Nevertheless, right-wingers are determined to draw a line in the sand when it comes to illegal narcotics and throw the book at offenders — unless you happen to be an R&B music producer with ties to Utah Sen. [tag]Orrin Hatch[/tag] (R). If you are, you get to walk.
As several media outlets reported recently, Atlanta music producer [tag]Dallas Austin[/tag] was arrested in the United Arab Emirates May 19 after he was caught with 1.26 grams of cocaine. It didn’t look good for Austin. Anyone who has seen “Midnight Express” knows that many Muslim nations frown on drug use — and their prisons are not exactly models of rehabilitation.
A court sentenced Austin to four years in prison, but he is now free and back in the United States, thanks to intervention from Hatch. As the Associated Press reported:
In a statement released today, Hatch says he was contacted by Austin’s attorneys and then called the Ambassador and consul of the [tag]United Arab Emirates[/tag] in Washington on Austin’s behalf.
Hatch’s decision to go to bat for Austin is a little strange. There is no evidence that the two men ever met, and Austin, author of a little ditty called “Silly Ho,” doesn’t seem like the kind of squeaky clean, family values guy Hatch normally hangs out with.
So why did the uptight Mormon lawmaker do it?
Hatch fancies himself a singer/songwriter, and apparently the two men share the services of an entertainment lawyer based in Atlanta. That attorney, Joel A. Katz, had traveled to Dubai in an effort to secure Austin’s release. When that failed, he apparently called on Hatch. Hatch, according to several media accounts, made “numerous” phone calls to UAE officials here in the U.S., and Austin was promptly pardoned and released.
Isn’t it nice to have friends in high places?
In fairness, I should note that other people, mostly entertainers, went to bat for Austin, and apparently it’s not unusual for the UAE to deport a drug offender from another country rather than house him for years. Still, UAE likes to brag that is has zero tolerance when it comes to illegal narcotics. I can’t help but think that Austin would still be rotting in a prison cell if Hatch had not stepped in.
Hatch says he favors rehab over incarceration for many non-violent drug offenders. Great. But as The New York Times noted, he seems lax in following up in Austin’s case. The paper reported that Hatch “did not say if he requested that Austin seek treatment.”
Will Hatch now speak out on behalf of all those folks sitting in American prisons for blowing a little dope? A few of them are probably songwriters too. I’m waiting.