JURIST - Paper Chase: Martha Stewart leaves prison for 5 months 'house arrest'

[JURIST] Domestic guru and corporate high-flyer Martha Stewart left the women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia early Friday morning after being discharged at the end of her five month prison sentence for lying to investigators about stock trading. A few hours later, after a flight on a private jet, she arrived at her 153-acre estate north of Manhattan, where she will serve the next 5 months under loose "house arrest" pursuant to the terms of her trial sentence. Required to wear an electronic bracelet for tracking and allowed to leave home only for 48 hours a week, Stewart will be permitted to perform some work activities, including running Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. [official website], writing a column for her magazine, preparing for a revival of her daily television show, and developing a reality based show based on NBC's "The Apprentice." Stewart will also be allowed to receive her $900,000 salary. Stewart's sentence is still under appeal [PDF brief]. The US Bureau of Prisons issued a statement [AP version] prior to Stewart's release, and Stewart herself issued a statement on her corporate website [not, notably, her defense website, perhaps suggesting a forward-looking personal and media strategy]. AP has more.

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