Spartan cell is new home for Martha Stewart

[emad]

By James Langton, Evening Standard In New York
8 October 2004

Just a few hours ago, Martha Stewart was sipping cocktails and nibbling canapes with her socialite friends at Manhattan's exclusive Four Seasons Hotel.

But this afternoon the woman known as America's guru of good taste will arrive at Alderson prison in rural West Virginia to begin a five-month jail term.

The 63-year-old multi-millionaire, convicted of perjury over insider trading earlier this year, will inhabit a grim two-woman cell - a far cry from her mansions in the Hamptons and Connecticut.

Stewart, famed for her decorating tips and adored by millions of American women, will be able to do little with her cheap, steel prison furnishings. On arrival, prisoner 55170-064 - as Stewart is now known - must give a supervised urine sample and strip naked for a body search, including a procedure known as "squat and cough". Stewart could have remained free until an appeal is heard but decided to go to prison now and avoid further damaging her troubled commercial empire, which includes magazines, TV shows and a range of household products for K-mart.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/13679839?source=Evening%20Standard

[kokomo]

1. How about Ken Lay and GW Bush "squatting and coughing?"

[emad]

2. those WMDs could be anywhere....

like the idea!

[Amigust]

14. Big Democratic contributor

convicted only of lying to a federal investigator. Not even convicted of the crime for which she was being investigated.

Compare this to big GOP contributors who cook the books and cause unimaginable harm to their companies, employees, former employees, customers and others (such as electricity consumers in California).

[emad]

3. BBC breaking: Martha Stewart starts prison term

Snip
Addressing "friends" on her website, Ms Stewart wrote: "By the time you read this, I will have reported to a minimum-security prison in Alderson, West Virginia, to begin serving my five-month sentence."

Despite an appeal against her conviction that has yet to be resolved, Ms Stewart said she did not want to delay going to prison.

"I have decided to serve my sentence now because I want to put this nightmare behind me as quickly as possible for the good of my family and my company," she wrote on her website.

Ms Stewart had earlier expressed optimism at her conviction, saying: "There are many, many good people who have gone to prison. Look at Nelson Mandela."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3726990.stm

[shaolinmonkey]

4. Nelson Mandela? Who is she kidding?

Sure, she's gotten a raw deal in comparison to other frauds we've witnessed, but please. What's she gonna do? Liberate all the crafty, scrapbooking, perfect turkey cookers from their oppressive 4-bedroom ranches?

Maybe she could compare herself to Che Guevara, "I will cook so many pies they will never be able to eat them all!"

[Lindacooks]

23. Yes, saying 'I'm innocent' is SUCH a terrible crime.

That's what she was convicted of. And the government's witness against her has been charged with perjury in the case. If you think that's worth a prison term, then every single person in this country should be in prison.

[emad]

5. Stewart listed jail preferences, sent to "Camp Cupcake": CNN

"Ultimately, the Federal Bureau of Prisons assigned Stewart to the minimum-security women's prison in Alderson, W.Va., known as Camp Cupcake. Stewart arrived at Alderson at about 6:15 a.m., according to the bureau."
http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/08/news/newsmakers/marthareport/index.htm?cnn=yes

Howabout renaming Guantanamo "Camp Yellowcake" and sending Junior/Cheney/Poppy there?

[candy331]

6. Very good that she will be pardoned by President Kerry. n/t

[freeplessinseattle]

19. listed preferences? um, is that usual procedure?

wonder what other special treatment she'll receive...

[Bridget Burke]

25. It's apparently standard procedure.

They're sending her to prison #3 on her list. She requested Danbury, Connecticut, partly to be closer to her 90-year-old mother--& specifically asked not to be sent to Alderson because of its remoteness.

"While I had hoped to be designated to a facility closer to my family and more accessible to my appellate attorneys, I am pleased that the Bureau of Prisons has designated me so quickly to FPC Alderson, the first Federal prison camp for women in the United States. I look forward to getting this behind me and to vigorously pursuing my appeal."

http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/29/news/newsmakers/martha/index.htm

I read about Danbury when it was first mentioned. It's not exactly a country club.

[Ezlivin]

7. Her cell will go from "spartan" to "spectacular" with just a few touches

The key is in accessorizing correctly.

And the base color, drab gray, goes with nearly everything.

[freeplessinseattle]

20. yes, "Shabby Chic" (nt)

[henslee]

8. Martha may come out a changed woman. I suspect she will see the

justice system/culture of incarceration for what it is -- a mismanaged, thinly disguised cottage industry.

[kayell]

10. Look at how it affected Susan McDougal. Maybe Martha will

have the same type of enlightening experience. One can hope that some good will come of it.

[henslee]

13. I had a friend do time. i visited them frequently. It was eye opening.

First off, the grief they put families through who want to visit is disgusting. Prisons are usually remote and expensive to get to. Visitors sometimes must wait outside for hours in the summer heat and the winter cold. They never have enough space to put your belongings. They sometimes arbitrarily enforce dress codes and though some guards are nice, some are definitely not. It's all done to discourage visits. Less visitors = less work for facility.

[Amigust]

15. I hope it turns her into a powerful advocate

eom

[gatlingforme]

9. Given her "not me" attitude, she will have a hard time behind bars.

[takumi]

11. Why Are Certain Media Organization Gloating So Much (CNBC)?

[kskiska]

18. CNN is gloating, too.

Heidi Hairdo went so far as to say Martha was "sneaky," entering the prison out of the glare of TV cameras in the dead of night. They feel deprived.

[Lindacooks]

24. Because she's a Democrat and a strong woman.

Weak, insecure men always dislike strong women who say what they think. And since most of the media are RW whores, they always childishly gloat over a liberal's problems.

[maxsolomon]

12. martha will come out stronger & angrier

it will seem like she was gone for the blink of an eye.

does she get to vote?

[kokomo]

16. Depends on the voting rules in her home state. Most states deny felons....

their right to vote but depends on where they stand with their sentences. Prison inmates are disenfranchised in 48 states, parolees in 33 states, and probationers in 29 states. Some states like Florida ban felons from ever voting the rest of their lives. Some states have waiting periods AFTER a felon is off parole and "free." As many as 5 million Americans are disenfranchised in any one election. Minorities are hit particularly hard by these state laws: They deny 13 percent of African American men the right to vote.

In Florida, Kathyrn Harris "mistakenly" denied tens of thousands of voters their right to vote in 2000 because the state had placed those who were only guilty of a misdemeanor on the felon list, possibly denying 50,000 Democrats from voting. This year Jeb Bush got caught trying to allow Cuban-American felons to vote (they are mostly Republican) but still purging mostly black Democrats.

[mainer]

17. Martha will somehow make the best of it

She's already said she's going to use the time to learn Italian. Watch her come out of there completely fluent. You have to hand it to her -- she's not one to sit idle.

[bagnana]

22. So true!

She said she is going to learn Italian, has read up on meditation, and "jailbird etiquette." That must be an interesting book.

[SoCalDem]

21. She's in Greece???

:)