[JURIST] Homemaking diva Martha Stewart called Wednesday for US sentencing reform in a Christmas message posted on her defense website. Stewart, currently imprisoned for securities-related crimes at the Alderson West Virginia federal correctional facility for women, said she herself was "fine, really", but directed her readers' attention to "the women here in Alderson [who] will never have the joy and wellbeing that you and I experience. Many of them have been here for years — devoid of care, devoid of love, devoid of family". Stewart continued::

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.

Read the full text of Stewart's statement here. Stewart's appeal of her own conviction is still pending. AP has more.