Martha Stewart has been convicted on all counts today. Her lawyers, naturally, think this is a tragedy. I’m inclined to think she deserves to go to prison, not less because she is a celebrity, but more because she, a billionaire at the time, took advantage of inside information and dumped shares of stock she could easily have afforded to eat, to be bought by much poorer stockholders who lost till it hurt. If she does go to prison for twenty years (the maximum) it will show that justice really is blind. But I’m not holding my breath. She’ll probably get out in two (if she goes to jail at all).
She used to be a stock broker. She knew exactly what she was doing. She’s no better than the Irish Travelers that pull swindles. She sold stock to the average joe knowing they would go down. I only wish the prison would shave her head. Get rid of that damn bang already!
She broke the law, she was convicted. I think because she was so rich, and was able to have legal council, that she should get the maximum sentence.
A poor person who might not know what the law is, or who cant afford an attorney to find out what is legal or not legal, should get some leniency for a first offense - maybe even just probation if they didnt know what they did was against the law.
Rich people know darn well what is legal and not legal, they have lawyers that tell them , so rich people should get the max sentence nearly all the time.
She had her chance to fess up before the trial, she had lawyers that told her what she did was illegal. IF she wanted any leniency, she should have admitted what she did wrong before the trial, and asked for leniency back then. She should have pleaded guilty and asked for mercy of the court. Since she didnt, then she does not want any mercy.
I would give her the max sentence, with no chance of parole. I dont know if the penaty is 20 years, but if it is, then I would be satisfied with that. She also should be made to pay for the expenses of her incarceration, and for the expenses of her trial, since she can easily afford it.
Should they? Rich people are victimized sometimes and lawyers are only human themselves.
But no they’re certainly not elevated over the rule of law and they are usually dealt with less harshly. It’s past time for that to be corrected.
She’s a convicted felon now. I don’t think prison would be inappropriate, but no need to throw the book at her. I doubt it would be very hard time in any case.
I still can’t fathom the stupidity of the risk she took just to save a paltry 50 grand. It just strikes me as doubtful, but she’s had her day in court.
Martha Stewart does not deserve to go to prison. What she deserves is to do five years of hard time in an Eastern Kentucky KMart, where she would spend nine hours a day explaining to rude, foul-smelling Jerry Springer rejects exactly why the Martha Steward brand pillowcase is not currently available in baby blue.
Martha Stewart lost $95 million today. 95 million dollars for “covering up” a stock trade which in and of itself was probably not illegal. She’s never going to get back to where she was, financially speaking. Not for the rest of her life.
Seems to me that any amount of time in a minimum security federal prison (on the taxpayer’s dime, no less) could equal the punishment she’s already received via the destruction of her company.
To the extent that she broke the law it is appropriate for her to be punished, by time in prison if neccessary. To the extent that she was prosecuted not for her actions but as a distraction so that the general public will assume that changes have been made rather than assuming that life is likely to go on as it was for people in the stock market, I feel sorry for her. This is especially true to the extent that she was singled out because she is unpopular and has an abrasive personality. It is even more true if her being female was a significant factor in the selection of her to prosecute.
Why would a poor person not know what the law is? Rich or poor, I think the knowledge of law is about the same. You don’t need money to know the law. And not all rich people have lawyers. Martha Stewart aside, you seem to really be hating rich people just because they’re rich.
Yes, she should go to prison. However, white collar criminals rarely receive the maximum sentences. Compared to some other cases, her case is not so horrible. Her insider trade was insidious, sure, but she didn’t make much money on it. Fifty thou is chump change in white collar crime. Heck, a certain president’s son made more than that on his insider trade, and he got a slap on the hand. It’s not like she looted her company, ala Enron.
We haven’t seen her sentencing yet, and the SEC suit is still in the wings. Surely there will be civil suits from investors, now that the criminal verdict has done the scut work for them.
We can make outraged comparisons to folks who get (mumble) years for stealing a car or having a bag of dope, but that sort of thing never flies in the court’s eyes.
Stealing fifty thousand dollars is a big enough crime to deserve prison time.
Fines as punishment for the rich are arguably weakened if the criminal is still very wealthy after the fine.
I resent Martha for being a rich criminal, and have to wonder how much (if any) of her wealth came from other crimes. It is sad that she’s the one sitting on all that wealth.
I’m torn. On the one hand, I don’t think she is a danger to society, nor do I feel she overall has hurt many people. Therefore I would opt for a stiff fine.
On the other hand, a stiff find probably doesn’t mean much to her and therefore a prison sentence is probably the better option.
I guess in the end, I don’t feel strongly either way. She shouldn’t get off scott free.
I don’t know why celebrities always get this treatment. Of course she should go to prison. If it was any of us who had done what she did, we’d be doing time and no one would be feeling sorry for us. MArtha Stewart’s shit stinks just like everyone else’s. She’s not special just because she’s rich and famous.
It cost the US Govt. (us) $1.5 million to prosecute Martha. What a waste! This was a 50,000 dollar scam. Why don’t they prosecute the REAL high-dollar crooks (like ken Lay)?
What a total waste of my money!
And, WHy does it tale a federal judge 3 MONTHS! to decide sentencing? Does he have to study weighty decisions of the past? I just don’t get it!
True. But neither should she be more severely punished just because she’s rich and famous.
It would be nice for the punishment to fit the crime to the same degree for everyone. It’s not reality though. I think it’s a more urgent problem, actually, than anything Martha did. But old ways die hard and it takes a public backlash to shake things up. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
She should have to spend time as domestic for the people that lost their asses on ImClone. Her time spent in each household could be proportional to how much that investor lost.
