Verified Document

Domestic Diva Martha Stewart Really A Convicted Term Paper

¶ … domestic diva Martha Stewart really a convicted criminal? Martha Stewart is a household name -- not only because this icon of home decor and stylish living is awaiting sentencing for allegedly lying to investigators about the reasons she sold shares of a biotechnology company more than two years ago and faces the probability of a prison term -- but chiefly because she is revered as one of the most successful self-made female business owners in American history. She rose from her working-class roots to create a multimillion-dollar enterprise with a personal net worth of close on $2-billion, by selling America good taste.

For years the name Martha Stewart personified the ideal of family life and home decor. Millions of American consumers imitated her ideas of how to successfully juggle domestic and work responsibilities by adopting a standard of living that personified...

According to the Martha Stewart viewpoint all that is required is patience and work, attention to detail, the ability to prepare scrumptious meals, the crafting of knickknacks and the skill to color coordinate furniture, soft furnishings, and tableware. Likewise, her business success also inspired the respect of other business professionals and inspired aspirant entrepreneurs. However, many families with two working parents - burdened by domestic and financial obligations - did not share her proposal of American middle-class perfection, believing that it was an unattainable ideal.
Martha Stewart's meteoric rise to fame and fortune began when she became one of the first female stockbrokers on Wall Street and through her business amassed a fortune. She also ran her own catering concern and published several books on entertaining. The climb up the corporate…

Sources used in this document:
Martha Stewart's meteoric rise to fame and fortune began when she became one of the first female stockbrokers on Wall Street and through her business amassed a fortune. She also ran her own catering concern and published several books on entertaining. The climb up the corporate ladder toward establishing the Martha Stewart Empire began when she initiated a product partnership with Kmart and published a magazine called Martha Stewart Living. The name Martha Stewart became a national commodity when she developed her own syndicated cable TV show. In 1999 she combined her numerous enterprises - magazines, radio and television programs, household products and Internet sites -- to establish the company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She owns about 61% of the stock.

However, the optimistic public reputation that the Martha Stewart Empire represented was put to the test in 2002 when securities investigators began looking into the company's sale of 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems on Dec. 27, 2001 -- one day before the Food and Drug Administration made an announcement about an ImClone drug that sent stocks plummeting. A federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted Stewart and her former Merrill Lynch broker, Peter Bacanovic on June 4, 2003.

After reviewing numerous news reports about the background to this case, it is my belief that Martha Stewart should be acquitted for three reasons. Firstly, because her status and future progress is on the line for a crime that is rarely prosecuted in this manner; secondly, so that she may return to her business of improving the quality of life for all of us; and thirdly, because hundreds of jobs are at stake. Furthermore, I believe that the government is capitalizing on Stewart's celebrity status to distract attention from its failure to go after business tycoons whose criminal dealings far outstrip the misdeeds for which she is being prosecuted. The $40,000 she allegedly acquired unfairly is pocket change compared to her salary of over $2 million. She will be sentenced on June 17.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Misuse of Critical Thinking --
Words: 1770 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

But if one agrees with the jury that convicted her, that the evidence supports that "Stewart acted on illegally obtained information in selling her stock," the fact that some corporate executives might 'do worse' things does not make her illegal actions correct or 'a good thing.' Ironically, one of the reasons so many celebrities used the 'two wrongs make a right' defense of Stewart -- even if she did lie,

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now