The laws that prompted the investigation of Martha Stewart should be repealed because they violate individual rights. By Andrew Bernstein
Martha Stewart was investigated for the "crime" of insider trading and later convicted of obstructing justice for lying to authorities during the investigation. But the questions no one is asking are: Should Martha even have been the subject of a criminal investigation in the first place? Should anyone be investigated for insider trading? Is insider trading objectively a crime?
In a free society a company belongs to its owners--the shareholders--not to the government. The owners have the moral, and must have the legal, right to decide if corporate executives--their employees--will be permitted to trade on or disseminate "inside," i.e., proprietary information. Indeed, the owners have the moral right to decide if corporate executives will even be permitted to own stock in the company.
...
Martha Stewart is an enormously productive businesswoman caught up in a network of immoral laws. It is far more just to repeal the laws than to punish one who obstructed an investigation that was wrongful from its inception.
There are some serious bugs in this system.
No comments:
Post a Comment