Keep Marion Jones in Prison

The only issue is the dangerous precident that the president created when he pardoned Scooter Libby. Now every person who perjured themselves can look at Libby and say, "was my offense any worse than your friends Mr. President?".

Having Marion Jones in prison will not save the sport nor will it stop people from cheating to get ahead in sports. I find it funny that she should be put away but the companys that keep giving these athletes these products as well as the coaches and the rest of these organizations never seem to suffer. So what sport aren' they cheating in ummmmm lets see track, biking, baseball. She is done fine and leave her alone and go after the people behind the bull!!

Using Marion Jones as a means to end is immoral. It cannot be a reason for keeping her in jail. The only reason that could support such a statement is upholding the rule of law.

To suggest that prison is a fitting place for Marion Jones is just plain foolishness. This woman has lost everything. She has had to endure public humiliation, is broke and now has to explain to her children what has happened. Prison? What horrific crime did she commit? She lied and cheated and has now had to face the public. There are far more deserving athletes that belong in prison and not to just prove a point to children about playing fair. Prison should never be used as a tool to teach children about fairness. As a parent I have yet to come upon a circumstance that I needed to use the institution of prison as a teaching tool to my children. Prison, to my knowledge is supposed to be used as a teaching tool to the individuals that have been deemed unfit to be rehabilitated or conform to the rules of society. Prison is not something that should be carelessly applied to "teach someone a lesson." As I said there are far more deserving athletes, politicians and CEO's that should be in prison for what they have done to the American public whether it be through lies or criminal activities. Marion Jones will hopefully find a quiet and peaceful life to raise her children in relative anonymity far away from the sporting world that she is viewed as a pariah. If we are to use prison as a tool to deter our children from "playing fair", then why don't we just have a public execution of her in times square and be done with it.

- More of America's simplistic, petty "lock 'em up and throw away the key" intolerance". She cheated in a sport and lied about it ... wooooh, scary ... oh yeah, she better do time. This is why America has a prison population bigger than some states. - Idiocy!

For you to suggest that keeping Marion Jones in prison will somehow teach athletes anything is sheer foolishness. She has lost everything, and had to face the nation and admit that she had lied and cheated. She has lost her medal, she is broke, and has been publicly humiliated. Prison is a place for criminals that cannot be rehabilitated in any other manner other than removing them from society. She is a mother and has to explain to her children what she has done. No parent wants to face their children and tell them that they are a cheat and a liar. Prison is over the top, and there are a lot more deserving athletes, politicians and CEO's that belong there. Especially these CEO's and politicians that defraud the American public out of so much more than their sentiments for the sanctity of fair play in sports. To suggest that keeping Marion Jones in prison is serving any good for any purpose, or to any person is just plain foolishness. There is something wrong with how we raise our children if we need to use prison as a teaching tool.

Marion Jones goes to prison for steroids and Scooter Libby is a free man after being accomplice to exposing a CIA agent in the scenario that started the Iraq War .... WHAT A COUNTRY!

Marion Jones goes to prison and Scooter Libby is a free man ... WHAT A COUNTRY!!!!!!

She admitted her crimes in an era when a lot of other athletes who almost certainly have used steroids - Roger Clemens, Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds - have not and have not served jail time as a result.

I think the reporter is being a judgemental ass, personally. Juicing is older than recorded history, and it's not unreasonable to say that some form of it happens with more than 50% of athletes total. And even in the ones not using illegal juice, MOST are on some sort of legal performance enhancer. For God's sake, Tour de France riders back in 1910 used to grind cocaine into their *eyes*, and legally. Mr. Starr, for a veteran sports writer, is horridly out of touch with the reality on the ground.

I personally think Marion should have gotten community service or a suspended sentence in the first place for having the honor to stand up and admit what she did wrong. Yeah, she screwed up, but in the end she *owned* up, too. Her medals have already been stripped, and I think there's been a double standard in terms of punishing her here, maybe not gender-based, but one that punishes the honest and rewards the dishonest.

My guess is that there are a *lot* of Olympians who juice and have just found ways to beat the system, and punishing Marion to this extent is just unfair. And punitive. American jails, like all jails, are utterly screwed up and a horrible experience for anyone going through them. The only way that I'll buy Mr. Starr's claims that he's just an reporter who dislikes the "scourge" of drugs, and not one who feels burned by writing coverage that's now altered by circumstance, is if he publishes an unconditional call for the arrests of *everyone* ever associated with steroids or illegal performance enhancers. Otherwise, I just don't buy it, and hope he learns to be less judgemental in the future.