Michael and Diandra Douglas’ pleas to see their son Cameron Douglas, locked in a Maryland prison on drug charges, have prompted backlash and support.
Page Six exclusively reported Diandra e-mailed high-powered friends, including Charlie Rose, this week asking them to sign a Change.org petition to help her and Michael see Cameron. (Michael said at the Emmys: “My son . . . [has] spent almost two years in solitary confinement. I’ve been told that I can’t see him for two years . . . And I’m questioning the system.”)
But after Diandra’s letter went out, the petition was abruptly taken down.
“They initially thought this was a positive vehicle,” explained a source close to the family. “However, they were [advised by attorneys] that the government does not respond positively to publicity.” (TMZ said the petition was dropped because the Drug Policy Alliance, which began the drive, had a change of heart, deciding it was unfair to focus on an individual prisoner rather than penal issues.)
Even so, the movement to help the family began gaining steam. A GOP Senate candidate from New Hampshire, Andy Martin, accused President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder of allowing “medieval” conditions for jailed drug felons. Martin wrote to Holder, “While Cameron is a ‘celebrity’ prisoner in the sense that he has prominent parents, his incarceration helps to shed light on how other similarly situated prisoners are treated.” Cameron’s sentence runs till 2018.