Category: News and Views
So, there you have it. She kills her two-year-old daughter Caylee by drowning her in a swimming pool & gets away with it. From what I understand, she did it because she wanted to party & didn't want the responsibility of a child. She is merely accused of giving the cops false information. Obviously, I'm outraged! Being a mom, I know very well the hardships & challenges of parenting. But it just simply never occurs to me to off my children like that for a few simple pleasures. Selfish, immature? Oh, yeah... Crazy, sick? Needs help? Needs to be punished? Definitely. But more importantly, this child needs justice! She deserves justice because she never got a chance. I guess the most disturbing part of it is, what will happen to our justice system next? I am honestly unsure if she did actually do it, so therefore, it would be wrong of me to accuse her, but to me, she at least needs psychiatric help. Even though I am angry & outraged at such a lack of a justice system, I cannot be totally mad at her. I have to remember that Caylee is in Heaven & Casey will be judged accordingly by God. We are not her ultimate judges, God is & he will forgive her if she asks for it.
I'm afraid I don't feel sorry for Casey. Had she not wanted a child, she could have 1) practiced abstinence, 2) bought a three pack of condoms, or 3) placed the child in custody of her own parents, who seemed to cherish her. She was videotaped dancing in nightclubs while Caylee was 'missing'. I don't know about her "needing help". My impression is had the father acted in such a manner while his daughter was 'missing', people would be seeking his head rather than saying it needed examined.
This whole mess is sort of like a story told during the Civil War, where a mom went out of her way to get her son off death row by treason. President Lincoln, amazed by the woman's courage & tenacity, pardonned him. He was quoted, and this is in one of Joni Eareckson-Tada's books whose title I'll give you later, as saying the young man still deserved "a little bit of hanging." A fit analogy IMO for today's travesty of justice for poor Caylee.
We don't know her and probably never will. of course, I totally agree there's something wrong going on in that woman's head. Every caring parent I know wouldn't have rested a moment until they had an answer about their missing child. so do I think she did it? absolutely. But unfortunately, what's done is done. I don't know exactly how this works in the US, but I know in Canada it only takes one doubting jurer for a not guilty vertict. the justice system used to be way too harsh on criminals. Now we've overcompensated and gone to the other extreme. Having said that, the trial is over, the vertict has been made, and our lives will go on regardless. For those of you who believe in a God, leave the rest up to him and get on with your own affairs. for those of us who don't believe in a god, such as myself, there's nothing more we can do on this matter. I'm not saying there's no cause for anger, but what what we should be doing is let this serve as a clear example of how the justice system should be changed in the future, rather than complain about something that can't be undone now. In closing, just make sure Casey Anthany is not the person you ask to babysit your child.
right on, Jess; I couldn't agree more.
About ten years ago, there was a case in
Florida against a man by the name of Willie Crane.
Much like this case, there was a lot of circumstantial evidence. Much like this case, new and supposedly controversial techniques were tried. How air samples are controversial, I don't know: my brother has used such in the marine sciences for years.
The only difference is the outcome. Nobody said Willie Crane needed help as a grandfather watching hid granddaughter, nobody said there must be a psychological problem. He missed the chair because the chair is no longer used in Florida.
He went to the death house on less evidence than Casey Anthony walked out on.
Incidents like this have done more to damage any credibility the feminist movement did have. And yes, when I went to college, I heard it all: all about male privilege, etc., by people on full-ride scholarships while most of us (both men and women) worked.
I wonder if any media talking head has the balls and boots to come out and ask the hard question: Would she have walked if she were a man?
Read up on Willy Crane here.
In final note: in Crane's case, the body was never found. He is on death row, and Casey Anthony has walked.
O.J. simpson walked, and he's a man. I see your point, though. it only takes one person to feel sorry for the accused and it blows the whole thing apart.
O.J. Simpson is a very rich man, and that is precisely why he walked. That, and he successfully claimed the LAPD had it in for him on account of him being black.
And, like the current case and like Willie Crane's, there were some doubtful parts.
However, note that she took none of the charges, except for falsifying information to a police officer. Not even the crime-of-passion manslaughter charge afforded. O.J. was never charged with that: California only went for Capital murder.
Better comparison is Willie Crane because he was in the same state, he had little evidence just like she did, only in his case there was no skeleton at all. And, he awaits his final walk down the mile.
I don't feel sorry for the woman. I feel like, at the very least, she should be permanently placed in a psych ward. But, she walked unfortunately, & as poster 3 said, there's no going back. My only reason for posting this was to hear others' opinions. Whether I believe she did it or not, I believe that she like all of us, has the potential to be forgiven. No sin is greater than any other, but God does have pretty strong words for anyone wh harms His children. I might look up the verse & post it, but whether I do or not, He is our judge, & he will judge her in the way that He sees fit whether a jury does or not.
It's cases like this that make mee wish a judge could demand that she be sterilized. She may have gotten away with murder once, but making damn sure she never has another biological child or is allowed to adopt another kid will at least prevent it from happening again. In the past few years there have been way too many stories about women killing their children and either getting off completely or getting a short time in a psych ward with everyone feeling sorry for them.
And this is what happens when you introduce trial by media.
"From what I understand, she did
it because she wanted to party & didn't want the responsibility of a child." And where did that understanding come from? From the evidence presented in court? From the testimony of the accused? From witnesses? Or did it come from the reportings in the media?
The problem with wall-to-wall coverage of these types of cases is that we are often exposed to far more information about them than is actually relevant, and are therefore put in a position of being able to make a judgement before the case has even gone to trial.
We do not live in a society where the public and press decide on whether someone is guilty or not, we live in a society where defendents are tried in a criminal court, with a judge and jury deciding on their ultimate guilt or innocence, depending on the evidence presented to them not by the press, but by the prosecution services whose job it is to gather that evidence.
Whether people like it or not, Casey Anthony has been unanimously found not guilty of murder, manslaughter and child abuse in a court of law. The jury did not even feel that she was guilty on the basis of diminished responsibility.
The understanding that someone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Casey Anthony was found not guilty in a court of law, and as such she has the right to be treated as an innocent.
Just because the media and the public believe she did it, doesn't mean that she did.
Exctly Sugarbaby, one of two observations about the case that shock me.
Firstly, that the media frenzy was allowed to continue and alligations and details constantly braodcasted and shown on TV (HLN news had practically nothing else on for the entire month of June and their viewership doubled). This must have influenced the case. Hard to say which way it went, my gut feeling is that she'd more likely have been found guilty if she hadnot been elevated to such celebrity status by the media.
Secondly that her parents seem to be getting away with repeatedly lying on the witness stand. I thought lying under oath, in court, was an offense, but no one talks about it. Her mom was definitely proven guilty of lying at least once during the trial, and I think she needs to go to jail for that. If you swear to tell the truth in court, then lie, and that is ok as long as the outcome is what your lying was supposed to bring about, then that oath means absolutely nothing any more.
My gut feeling is that Casey should be hung and quarterred, but I also realize that I am not the jury, I did not investigate all the evidence, and I totally think she was pvilified by the media as far backas 3 years ago.
The other interesting points are the sloppy policework (seriously, after wathing CSI you think they could prove her guilty in no time) and the overzealousness of prosecution offices and lawyers in big ticket cases. This applies here, but even more so in the Domonique Strauss-Kahn incident. He was hung out to dry by the media, along with France, in the hours after a dubious rape alligation, and the righteous U.S. media and laywers were really going to bring the sleezy French bastard down. Turns out the maid had repeatedly lied about being sexually abused, cheated on her taxes, admitted to wanting his money and had elicit drug dealings, so the case has fallen apart.
It seems in the new society you want to believe the most crazy and serious alligationt, because it makes for a juicy story and increases your advertizing revenue.
I believe HLN news owes Casey lots of money and DSK should get a huge sum of money from the U.S. as well as having his honor restored (again, may be he did it, in which case he's a sleezy and horrible man, but if he is found not guilty, his honor needs to be restored, to the extent possible).
How come I was in Florida in the late '90's and don't remember the story of Willie Crane? I clicked and read, Leo. How does he expain why his place lit up like a Christmas tree with Luminol? And speaking of the "Womens' Movement", why does a freaking idiot who brings home a strange man from a bar when she has a SEVEN YEAR OLD avoid criminal charges? I'm sorry, I don't see this man as innocent, but maybe some other source tells it differently, and I don't think a cadaver is needed for a murder conviction. Remember the man...pilot I believe...who was convicted of murdering his wife when all that was found was a finger bone that had most likely been thru a wood chipper?
As a rule you need a body to gain a murder conviction because, without a body, there's always a chance the victim may come back.
Of course there are instances where it is believed beyond all reasonable doubt that someone has been murdered, even without a body, but when that happens the evidence has to be very strong in order to gain a conviction.
Oh I concur he wasn't innocent. And, unlike what most people see on CSI, you are right: most cases rely heavily on circumstantial evidence. Hell, most archaeology and paleontology does too, for that matter.
I was only bringing up Willy Crane as a contrast. There was controversy over the chemical used because it lights up like a Christmas tree for both blood and bleach. Hadn't thought about the mother's role in that case, though.
"A little bit of hanging" is the daily devotional for June 7 of Joni Eareckson-Tada's book MORE PRECIOUS THAN SILVER. 366 DAILY DEVOTIONAL READINGS for those interested in the faith of this amazing woman.
Luminol lighting up for both blood and bleach? That's interesting. No way to separate one from the other?
The whole 'bar culture', bring a guy home you've just met that night is one thing I don't miss about Florida. I'm sure they do it everywhere, but boy do I remember well publicized incidents like one woman getting killed by one of those guys she just met that night and brought home, and it turns out a dispatcher in the northwest made a mistake in a records check on him by typing in the postal code MO for his license plate instead of MT, where he actually had a record. Had the check not come back 'no wants or warrants', he might have been captured long before he made it to Florida. It's bad enough when adults are this careless, but when there is a child in the house? Florida is also the capital state of single mothers, and unfortunately it has a lot of violent crime against children, either by the mother, who realizes parenting solo is no picnic, or one of her boyfriends. Sad sad sad...
chriky that's quite a statement to make against single mothers...
unfortunately the culture of one-night stands is quite prevalent worldwide, so i think it's a little unfair to tar all women of a certain state with the same reputation.
Agreed. Florida is far from the only place where this sort of thing happens.
Lived there for 24 years, Sugar Baby. See can you find Joseph Culligan's WHEN IN DOUBT CHECK HIM OUT. The man is a licensed private investigator in Miami, and he'll tell you the same thing, only the perp he'll list as being quite common here is mother's "paramours". These are men who have no biological relation to these womens' kids and abuse and kill them quite frequently here.
I like what Becky said about getting her sterilized. I bet she'll be pregnant within a month of being released.
I'm not entirely sure I agree with the concept of sterilising anyone, however I would imagine that in the event Casie Anthony should fall pregnant, Social services (or whatever the US equivalent is) would become involved in order to maintain the welfare of any resulting child.
Casey Anthony should be on death row! I cant believe she got away with killing her own child she carried in her belly for 9mths! What pathetic person does that? Oh yeah...Casey Anthony does. Her smiling away makes me wanna b***h slap her! She got alot of people who have no respect for her & don't see how she can live with herself. I don't feel sorry for her at all! But i do hope that soon Caylee can get that justice she deserves. Theres gotta be something they can find to throw her a** back in jail besides the false information she gave. Casey Anthony, you will get yours...
R.I.P Caylee Anthony...