I and many others have protested the persecution of Martha Stewart. Although the media treat it like a celebrity gossip story, it is in fact a travesty of justice. Ironically, her release from prison makes this even clearer. She must now present herself to the authorities to be fitted for an ankle bracelet (an electronic shackle) so that they can enforce her house arrest for five months. Is the law supposed to be mean-spirited? Here is a woman who assaulted no one, stole from no one, defrauded no one. She did no harm to anyone in any way. At worst, she lied to goverment agents who asked about a stock sale that was none of their business. She was never charged in connection with the sale per se.

Yet she is now confined to her home (not her entire property) until August. It may be a nice home, but that does not change the fact that the state intends to humiliate her. It goes to show that the state will tolerate many things. But lying to its agents is not one of them. Of course, those agents are perfectly free to lie to us.