Martha Has A New Interest (with actual substance)


It looks like Martha Stewart’s new home in the can has motivated her to speak up about women’s prisons. Her Christmas message this year is not full of cookie recipes or how to make a fabulous wreath out of hair, but about the need for address towards women’s treatment in prisons. Here’s a section of her Christmas message:
“I beseech you all to think about these women–to encourage the American people to ask for reforms, both in sentencing guidelines, in length of incarceration for nonviolent first-time offenders, and for those involved in drug-taking. They would be much better served in a true rehabilitation center than in prison where there is no real help, no real programs to rehabilitate, no programs to educate, no way to be prepared for life ‘out there’ where each person will ultimately find herself, many with no skills and no preparation for living.”
Good for her. But if this is going to be a new interest she’s taking on, hopefully she’ll divulge more about the serious problem of sexual and physical abuse, medical neglect (which includes reproductive health), and discrimination based on race and sexual orientation that incarcerated women are subjected to.
For now, it sure beats a new cookbook!

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