Posted on 07/16/2004 8:08:14 AM PDT by toaster
She didn't have to be under oath. Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 makes it a crime to lie to federal investigators and you don't even have to be under oath.
Don't like the law? Work to get it changed. Until then, it's the law of the land.
Sooo right!
I completely agree. This whole thing stinks. I think Martha has been nailed to the wall for something stupid. I cant believe that she will be doing time in a prison with real criminals, probably be rooming with some child molester. Doesnt seem right? I hear people say "well she did break the law". This is a bogus excuse. 99% of us break the law everyday by speeding on the way to work. This is about the same magnitude of what she did. Just pisses me off that we waste time pursuing stuff like this and not pursuing REAL criminals...
This is a normal crime under normal circumstances as opposed to the abnormal, anything goes atmosphere of the crooked Clinton 90s'.
If this is the way she describes insider trading, especially in consideration of the fact that she's a former board member of the NYSE, then I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her. She's remorseless and out of touch with reality. She deserves every day of her imprisonment, and then some.
Well, I somehow doubt there are a large number of Child Molesters in the federal pen - especially those places that white collar criminals go...
This is a bogus excuse. 99% of us break the law everyday by speeding on the way to work. This is about the same magnitude of what she did.
Ok, so if someone lies to the FBI while being questioned about, oh say a terrorist plot that may or may not be under way, and they get prosecuted and convicted, that would STILL be the same as speeding? Is that what you are saying?
If I were on the jury I nullify it, unless I were dealing with a violent crime. This is botique justice.
I don't like gangsters running free, but I also dislike the backdoor methods invented to prosecute them -- which have been expanded to torment ordinary citizens.
Also note, she was on the board of the NYSE. Martha and many other NYSE board members have been accused of serious wrong doing.
Ditto with Dick Grasso. Grasso is still fight to keep unjust payments.
"All of that for telling a lie to cover up a stock transaction that probably was not illegal in the first place."
First off, I agree that she has probably paid a steep price for this crime. But the price she paid was outside of the legal system. The problem is all those vermin like the Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco, and other coporation execs. I heard an analyst say, what Ms. Stewart did is how it starts. Bend a rule here, lie about it there. I resist those who say she did nothing wrong, just lie. A lie, at the wrong time, can be most damaging. But, even though Ms. Stewart has a very dislikable persona, she shouldn't be punished for her persona.
Anyway, the legal system must punish her. They did, it's fair. Let the woman get on with her life. Message to those of influence who can hurt others in their greed: Do it at your own peril, you could go to jail.
And that's a good thing. :)
Hey, like I said - she LIED to federal investigators. Period. It is a crime to do so, and has been, in one form or another, a crime to do so since the 19th century.
I, for one, am glad to see this as a crime, and I hope more people who lie to investigators, thus costing us all money by prolonging investigations or a worse case scenario costing lives, find themselves prosecuted for this in the future.
Martha is no ordinary citizen.
Chad you are comparing apples and oranges and lying is a fruit. Lying about terroristic things is way,way,way more serious than this silly crap. I dont believe that speeding, and lying about terrorism is the same degree. I understand what you are trying to say, but they just dont compare. If someone is caught lying about terrorism, then yes I believe they should be prosecuted. But this, I just dont see it....
This must have been what it was like the day they crucified Jesus Christ. "He's arrogant! Kill him! Serves him right! That'll teach 'em!"
In what way?
Sure it is, but under normal circumstances, when the federal government isn't looking for scapegoats for a bad economy, she never would have been questioned by the FBI.
I believe all people who lie to investigators should be prosecuted, regardless of how bad the lie is. My reasoning is that if, for example, Martha Stewart had gotten away with lying this time, who's to say how bad the lie would be next time? OmniMedia could have become the next Enron, with hundreds or thousands of people shafted and suffering financial losses because of lies and deceit.
No one will ever convince me that lying is ok, and should be overlooked just because it wasn't "a really bad lie"...
" I wonder if the Martha defenders would sing the same song if it was John Q. Public lying to the feds during a terrorism investigation and thwarting the timely finding of the facts."
How about this... suppose Martha's insider info was correct. Now assume that YOU bought her stock that she sold. (Someone had to buy it). And you ended up with nothing, as Imclone bottomed out. So, in essense, Martha steals how ever much the stock purchase was, ($100k?) from you. Now how do YOU feel about Martha lying?
People get rumors from their brokers everyday about who is trading what. People like Jim Cramer are on record in writing about doing just that. In 2002, an election year, the federal government was looking for scapegoats. The real crooks are in Washington. Their accounting tricks will have a much bigger and negative impact on our lives than anything Martha Stewart ever did.
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