When renowned R&B producer Dallas Austin was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in a Dubai prison for cocaine possession, he found an unlikely advocate in Republican Senator and Christian music composer Orrin Hatch, according to the New York Times:
The release of a music producer from a Dubai jail this week, quick on the heels of his conviction for drug possession, turns out to be a story of high-level string-pulling on the part of Mr. Hatch, the conservative Utah Republican and songwriter, along with Lionel Richie, the singer; Quincy Jones, the music entrepreneur; and an array of well-connected lawyers, businessmen and others, spanning cities and continents.
And it gets better:
A spokesman for Mr. Hatch said that the senator was a proponent of rehabilitation for drug offenders, and that he had worked to revise federal sentencing guidelines regarding cocaine, and, through legislation in 2005, had advocated treatment for nonviolent offenders and the easing of restrictions on medication to treat heroin addiction. In the statement Mr. Hatch said he was "confident that this talented young man will learn from this experience."
Sounds good to me, but Orrin Hatch? Didnât he once advocate the death penalty for international drug trafficking, the exact crime of which Mr. Austin was accused?
Clearly, heâs got some explaining to do, but letâs withhold our cries of hypocrisy for now and hope heâs seen the light. Afterall, weâve got 500,000 non-violent drug offenders right here at home that could use some help from Utah Republican Orrin Hatch.
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