Westchester residents can breathe a sigh of relief now that a judge has rejected Martha Stewart’s request to shorten her confinement period. With Martha safely behind a picket fence until Labor Day or so, the locals will be able to go about their business without fear that the notoriously tempermental diva might be lurking in the ladies room of a local Starbucks, thirsting for bloody revenge.

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Undoubtedly, prosecutor Michael Schachter would be the first to feel her wrath. In seeking to keep Martha confined to quarters, Schachter argued that the “minor inconvenience to one’s ability to star in a a television show” was insufficient grounds to set her loose early. This after Martha had made it known that she found her electronic monitoring anklet “somewhat uncomfortable and irritating.”

One wonders whether Schachter has ever slept in such a device, which reportedly can chafe the delicate ankle even when worn over triple-ply cashmere socks. We don’t doubt that Ms. Stewart will find ways to cope. But hasn’t she already received rough justice enough for a single lifetime?