Keep Marion Jones in Prison

The price she has paid for that betrayal is indeed steep. She was sentenced to six months in federal prison and later stripped of the five medals—three golds and two bronzes—that she won at the 2000 Olympics. After being in the limelight at the last two Summer Games, Jones will spend this Olympic August in Ft. Worth, Texas, where she has been incarcerated since March. That is unless President Bush grants Jones's formal application for commutation of her sentence.

I can go an awfully long time writing sports columns without even mentioning the president. But last week I defended his decision to go Beijing for the opening ceremonies. And this week I am offering him some more Olympic counsel: Please, do not grant Jones early release. I expect some readers will find my motives suspect. They might conclude that I want a bit back at her, that, after being played I am a wee bit vindictive. But I am hardly a singular case. Everyone whose life was touched by Jones—as she herself made clear—was, in the end, betrayed by her. And really, I am not that petty.

What I am is one of those reporters who feel that drugs have been a scourge on sports and all the putative values they hold and which first attracted me to them. And after all the drug scandals (and sadly, as the Tour de France has revealed, we are not yet "after" anything) that have tarnished our games and sent a cynical, and destructive message to our youth, there is no more powerful symbol than Marion Jones sitting out Beijing '08 in federal prison. It is not just a message about cheating, but also one that insists to our greatest athletes that they are not above or outside our legal system. They may be coddled and have special privileges bestowed upon them throughout their lives, but they are still accountable under the law.

It is hard to imagine the president doesn't share that sentiment. This week at White House send-off ceremonies for our Olympians, President Bush reminded them that they were "ambassadors of liberty" and that they "will convey our nation's most cherished values." One of those cherished values must certainly be "equal under the law." So while the president goes to Beijing and honors and cheers on our Olympians, he should honor those values and let Jones sit in prison, a chilling reminder that there can be a terrible price for dishonor.

© 2008