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shot at Olympic glory. The Olympics are held every four years. For most athletes four years is a lifetime. The Olympic Games are not just another track meet, they are the penultimate moment of a track athlete's life. Yet these women may suffer the humiliation of being stripped of their medals for the heinous crime of being on the same team as Marion Jones. How do we reconcile fairness for these women?

The use of the word "fairness" with respect to Ms. Jones seems unfair. It is as though the word were being turned against itself. Ms. Jones has been sentenced to 6 months in jail and several hours of community service. She will miss the companionship of her husband and family. She will miss being with her two young sons. This is not, however, unfair. It may be inconvenient. It is certainly regrettable, and perhaps even a bit sad, but it is not unfair.

Young men and women leave for Iraq and Afghanistan every week. They leave their sons and daughters and none of us labels this unfair. These people go away for far longer than 6 months and their return is not guaranteed. If we decide somehow that Ms. Jones is being treated unfairly, then we owe our young men and women in the military an apology.

The argument that drug use in sports is widespread does not justify ignoring people who break the law. They "everybody's doing it" defense did not fly in my house when I was growing up so I doubt that a federal judge will buy it. Likewise the "haven't I suffered enough" gambit never seems to gain much sympathy.

One fact which keeps getting lost is that Ms. Jones is not being jailed for drug use. Oddly, Ms. Jones has never tested positive for drug use. She admitted to it, and she admitted to lying about it, but she has never flunked a drug test. Her crime is that she lied about it to federal investigators which is a federal offense, and as my Uncle Abe might say, "(Uncle) Sam don't play that".

Learn more about this author, Eric D. Johnson.
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