We learned in the Tuesday, Oct. 8, edition of the Butler Eagle that the U.S. State Department has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to have Butler native Marc Fogel designated as wrongfully detained.

Fogel has been held in a Russian prison since August 2021. He was arrested with about half an ounce of medical marijuana that had been legally dispensed to help with his back pain.

He was convicted of “large scale drugs smuggling” and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

His mother, Malphine Fogel, sued the State Department in June, saying Marc Fogel should be designated as wrongfully detained. In the suit, she argued his case is similar to that of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was arrested with a THC vape cartridge and served 10 months in jail before being released as part of a prisoner swap.

In its request to have the suit dismissed, lawyers for the State Department say Malphine Fogel didn’t prove her son’s case has been handled differently than Griner’s. But the response offers no explanation of how the cases have been handled the same way.

The fact is they have not. If Marc Fogel were a celebrity, he would have been designated as wrongfully detained years ago. Instead he languishes in a Russian penal colony while the State Department makes toothless requests to have him released on humanitarian grounds.

Marc Fogel has been wrongfully detained by Russia since his 2021 arrest. His sentence was disproportionate and motivated by his status as an American citizen.

Marc Fogel, his mother, his family, his friends and the entire nation deserve answers about why the State Department hasn’t done more.

— JK