edarbaum

March 19, 2004

To the Honorable Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum
United States District Judge

Dear Judge Cedarbaum:

For some strange reason the trial and conviction of Martha Stewart remind me of Paris in the Terror. No, we don’t literally cut off the heads of our ‘aristocracy’ but figuratively a number of corporate heads are on the way to the guillotine. And in that sorry cart, I see the sad figure of Martha Stewart. Why, I wonder, is she in that tumbrel with the rest? What did she do to merit such a tragic fate?

And then I see the gleeful face of juror Chappell Hartridge, gloating from the stands. He can hardly wait for the blade to fall. He was a man with a message to the world, and thanks to a willing press who gave him a voice, he claimed he was striking a blow for liberty, equality and freedom from the oppressors. He loved his 15 minutes of fame in the national spotlight – sort of a male Madame Lafarge.

But what was Martha Stewart’s crime? Most certainly she does not belong in the big-timers ‘club’? Martha defrauded no one. Her company suffered as a result of the government’s charges, not from anything Martha did to cheat her stockholders or to enrich herself. It is impossible to tell from the comments that appear in the news. One man said, "I hope the skills of that sweater-knitting bitch will …find an outlet behind bars." Sweater knitting? Is that a crime?

Let us for the sake of argument assume the worst: that Martha Stewart traded on the basis of an insider tip. Nobody was hurt, but a lot of people were helped considerably: authors, pundits, prosecuting attorneys, comedians on TV shows, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and God only knows how many others have used her story to hype ratings. It was a feast, and like the parable of the loaves and the fishes, there was enough of Martha to feed millions of those ‘hungry’ for a bit of her hide. She was, after all, rich and famous and how dare she pretend that the arts and skills she was demonstrating on her program were easy? In the eyes of many a critic, that was indeed a ‘crime.’

Then what should her punishment be? She has already endured the ‘slings and arrows’ of the less talented; she has been the butt of jokes from Jay Leno and David Letterman; she has been deprived of her seat on the Stock Exchange; she has been deprived of her CEO status in the corporate ‘child’ she gave birth to; she has lost about a half-billion dollars in equities; she has endured unbelievable stress for almost 2 years; she has lost prestigious positions on the boards of various corporations; her political ‘friends’ who she supported generously have not just abandoned her when she needed them the most, they gave her a black eye while recoiling from her presence. She is, in short, no better than Hester Prynne in Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. Martha has been branded, but not with the "A" for adulteress, but with an "L" for liar. And the tragedy of it is that the spirit of the law has been trampled on, while the letter of the law – which is changing even as I write this – was applied with appalling impact.

Why do I care so much about Martha Stewart’s fate? For one thing, her fate in a small way becomes the fate of all of us who love the things she stands for: family life, domestic pursuits, fine arts, and gardening – all anathema to certain segments of the population. At least to those segments that get heard. We, her millions of supporters have no voice. Nobody cares about what we think. We write heartfelt letters of support to Martha, and yet the press seeks out her detractors. Where is the justice in that? I have never yet, in all the discussions I have had with my family and friends, and female attorneys, heard one single person express the opinion that Martha Stewart was guilty of any serious transgression. To a person they believe this was a vendetta. But that opinion gets lost in the verbiage of pontificating pundits who have no shame in admitting publicly that they "hate her." But that is their problem.

In a way, her supporters are all "little guys" that the jurors imagined they were protecting from the "big-wigs." But it’s the "little guys" who are going to suffer. And it’s the "little guys" who have rushed to her support.

Martha Stewart spent 30 years perfecting her skills. She has given so much to the world. She has made this planet a more beautiful place. How many corporate CEO’s can make that claim?

I pray, Judge Cedarbaum, that you will be merciful to all of us who love and admire Martha Stewart for what she is and for what she stands for. Please, I beg you in God’s name, free Martha – and us!

Respectfully yours,

Alexandra Mark, (Mrs. Vernon H.)

Please send your letters to Hon. Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, c/o Martha's attorney to this address: