Let's imagine that she wasn't set up. I still think there's more nuance in here than just Crime and Punishment. (Sorry...I couldn't resist that.)
At least you didn’t expect me to read War and Peace!
As
@Federberg pointed out, farther up this chain, Griner doesn't make enough money as an WNBA player not to have to play in a foreign country in the off-season, and therefore, Russia. She also comes from a place where what she did was legal, to a place where it wasn't. There is also much discussion that athletes use legal hash oil (in her case) or CBD for pain management, which is certainly part of an athete's life, and a legal option in many places.
Okay, let’s stop here. If it’s not legal in Russia, then it’s irrelevant if it’s legal in other places. Agreed? People often travel to the ME, get drunk and inappropriate, and whine that they’re treated unfairly, when they had to have checked out the local laws before they went. Kind of like Novak, who claimed ignorance of Australian laws, which didn’t make his case against them same laws any stronger.
Surely better than getting addicted to painkillers. We don't know all the fine points of this case, I'm sure, but she had less than an ounce of hash oil on her, which is legally prescribed for her in the US. Is this worth 9 1/2 years in a Russian prison, which also would surely be the end of her athletic career?
Unfortunately, if that’s their laws, it might well be. Her career isn’t an issue they can be expected to factor into their legal deliberations.
No athlete wants to be a political football. (Ask Novak.)
Novak actually wants to be a political football. The more noise he makes, the more victim he appears, the more he suspects he’ll get a pass.
But some situations are more dire than others. I think Griner deserves what the US can do to get her out of there.
The US can certainly try, but be careful, because the Russians will ask a high price that might have dire and murderous consequences down the line, and personally speaking, I’m not convinced America should go that route, especially if they also suspect she’s guilty. As you say, she uses this stuff where it’s legally accepted, so it isn’t beyond the realms that they caught her with it. A problem for the US govt, and the reason why I asked if you were being satirical, is that they’re compromised by identity politics and so will face pressure from the usual hustlers to rescue her because “she’s black, gay and female”, and not because she’s innocent.
If Russia use her to make a statement, they wouldn’t be dissimilar to other countries who do the same…