Russian court sentences Brittney Griner to nine years in prison
UPDATE (Aug. 4, 2022, 11:27 a.m. ET): On Thursday, a Russian court found Brittney Griner guilty of drug smuggling and possession charges, and handed her a sentence of nine years in prison.
In a just world, WNBA star Brittney Grinerwould be in Phoenix right now, preparing to travel to Chicago to play in the league's annual All-Star game. It’s an event she’s been selected for eight times in her nine-year career. Instead, after being incarcerated for four months, Griner has spent this week in a Russian courtroom, pleading guilty for transporting vape cartridges containing traces of hashish oil in her luggage.
In a just world, WNBA star Brittney Griner would be in Phoenix right now, preparing to travel to Chicago to play in the league's annual All-Star game.
Griner’s situation is getting more dangerous and dire as the months stretch on: She’s been accused of smuggling drugs across international lines, a charge that carries a 10-year sentence in Russia. Oh, and she’s facing trial in a country where defendants have less than a 1% chance of being acquitted, and where the government considers LGBTQ people a threat to the country’s promotion of “family values.” There’s no doubt that Griner, who is openly queer, is being wrongfully detained — even the U.S. State Department has made that declaration.
But somehow, as is often the case for WNBA players at the forefront of sports activism, Griner has been mostly left to fend for herself. Never mind that the customs agent found just 0.7 grams of THC, the primary ingredient in marijuana, in Griner’s cartridges. This should’ve resulted in a fine rather than a charge that carries a 10-year penalty. Instead of being treated as a national sports icon, she is being used as a political pawn, with even the GOP’s House Judiciary Twitter accountattempting to wade into the fray. The fact that Griner is being used to boost former President Donald Trump is especially ironic given that conservative legislatures have filed more than 670 anti-LGBTQ laws since 2018 and nearly 240 this year alone.
While the GOP’s faux concern will doubtless disappear if and when Griner returns to America, the Biden administration’s apparent lack of urgency highlights how queer Black women are deprioritized by both sides of the political aisle. Of course, negotiating the release of a prisoner from a foreign country, even one being held on bogus charges, is a tricky dance. It isn’t something that happens overnight, especially given the political tension between the United States and Russia. But as has happened throughout American history, Black women aren’t content to sit back and hope failing institutions stop failing them. Instead, Black women within the sports world and outside of it are filling in the gaps and putting increasing pressure on the Biden administration to swiftly strike a deal.
Credits: MSNBC