On a night when Michael Douglas should have been elated for winning an Emmy on Sunday for best actor as Liberace in the HBO miniseries 'Behind the Candelabra,' the Oscar-winner reflected on his personal life. Douglas first told the audience, and later the media backstage about his son Cameron who is currently serving time in federal prison for drug-related charges, Fox News reported.
When Douglas collected his Emmy Award, the famed actor and producer said he was "hoping [he'll] be able -and they'll allow...- to see him soon." Later Douglas told the media that his son is in solitary confinement for violating drug laws while in prison. Cameron Douglas was charged for smuggling and possessing cocaine and heroin.
Douglas said he has not seen his son in almost two years, and could be another two before they are allowed to see each other again.
"My son is in federal prison. He's been a drug addict for a large part of his life. Part of the punishments - if you happen to have a slip, and this is for a prisoner who is nonviolent as about a half-million of our drug-addicted prisoners are-... two years in solitary confinement," Douglas said.
"Right now I can't see him for two years. It's been over a year now now. And I'm questioning the system. Obviously at first, I was certainly disappointed in my son. But I've reached a point now where I'm very disappointed with the system," Douglas told the media backstage.
Douglas remains optimistic, however, that his son's chances for redemption will be possible much sooner than it would have been in the past. This is because the Department of Justice's Attorney General Eric Holder decided in August that low-level nonviolent drug offenders, like Cameron Douglas, will not be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory minimum sentences, news reports said.
"I think things are going to be revived, regarding nonviolent drug addicts," Douglas continued. "My last comment on that is the United States represents 5 percent of the world's population and we have 25 percent of the world's prisoners."
In August, Holder outlined the Justice Department's new drug sentencing policy shift will allow certain defendants -- those without ties to large-scale organizations, gangs or cartels -- to avoid what Holder called "draconian mandatory minimum sentences," the Huffington Post reported.
"Defendants would be "charged with offenses for which the accompanying sentences are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins," Holder said.
