Julie Blackman, a Montclair social psychologist who specializes in jury selection strategy, will lead a discussion at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield tonight, following Friday night services, on “Reflections on Courtrooms and Justice.” Blackman, who has been written up in the New York Times, was seen continuously in the courtroom during the jury selection phase of the Martha Stewart trial.
As it happens, Stewart — a Nutley native — was sentenced to a five-month prison sentence today for her part in the insider trading scandal. An appeal is pending.

5 replies on “What Timing!”

  1. Well, she DID do something criminal but while I agree that the jail sentence is harsh, the $30,000 fine is a joke.
    The best way to punish someone like this is to hit them in the pocketbook. Her fine should have been much larger to reflect her crime.

  3. It is the freedom not to get blown up that I am most concerned with.
    (hand wringing librarians aside….)

  4. Bob,
    Sorry, Hyperbole such as “Our civil rights are under the biggest attack in our history.”
    Is usually reserved for the standard oft-whined criticism of the Patriot Act.
    As for Grandstanding Prosecutors I think they take their lead from the likes of Elliot Spitzer, a truly dangerous man.
    But I’ll say it again, 30K (for Martha) and 5 months in a softie jail and 5 months in her posh house for obstruction (lying to federal investigators) seems pretty fair to me. She *was* convicted and it is the *minimum* sentence.

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