Was WNBA star Brittney Griner the subject of so much White House attention because she was an important showpiece? Nobody can claim they are unhappy Griner is home safely. No one can sit here and say she should have been left to suffer in Russia. But at the same time, Griner, through all fault of her own, ended up in the middle of a foreign policy struggle.
The State Department estimates that more than 3,000 Americans are imprisoned abroad, on grounds ranging from small amounts of marijuana to multiple murders. For all but a handful, the government explicitly states they cannot get you out of jail, tell a foreign court or government you're innocent, provide legal advice or represent you in court. The president certainly is not in the habit of making calls to the Russians telling them to please let you go, you didn't mean to have that vape cartridge of hash oil in your suitcase at Customs. The key to getting the full force of the United States government working for your release is to be "wrongfully detained," a qualification that applies to fewer than 40 out of those 3,000-some Americans locked up.
