Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Casey Anthony Verdict is Not an Endorsement of Our Criminal Justice System

Note: I originally posted this on Grumpy Elder's


2-year-old Caylee

MUDERERS ACROSS AMERICA CELEBRATE RELEASE OF CASEY ANTHONY


I began following the Casey Anthony trial just a few weeks ago.  I watched the witnesses speak, closing arguments, but mostly, observed the demeanor of Casey - the half smiles, moving her lips in disagreement with the Prosecutor, and of course, her absolute joy during the reading of the Verdict.  Like many folks, I was stunned!

I believe her parents and brother are also victims; aren't all families "victims" when someone is accused of murder, or imprisoned for felonies?  There is a deep grieving and emotional battle within every single person connected to the individual in prison and Casey has already been locked up for three years, in solitary confinement.  Her habitual lying from "day one" to everyone involved, including law officers, does not allow me to have much compassion for the state she found herself in, but my heart went out to the parents and brother.  As one attorney noted, "She has sucked everyone into her web of lies" and those lies grew, with time, to accusations against her father and brother to the extent that if I were her parent, I would have walked out immediately after the verdict, too, as by now I would have been convinced that she is the ONLY person responsible for the death of young Caylee.  I agree with the Prosecutors that no one in their right mind would make an "accident" appear to be a murder and hiding the body in a swamp surely is evidence of foul play.

Getting back to the parents, Casey destroyed the life a her child and in the process, destroyed the lives of her parents and brother. Everyone eventually lied, but lying about having a mistress has nothing to do with what happened to Caylee.  The mother lying to "save" Casey is understandable, if she feared her daughter would receive the death penalty.   Neither parent ever stated Casey was a horrible daughter; their tears were real, as the wept for Caylee and the situation their family were in, all due to the lying of Casey.  If they were not dysfunctional, they are now and probably will be for a long time.  If the parents divorce, it would not surprise me - distrust is difficult to overcome.

This morning, I received an Email from Red State and I believe it is the best commentary on the murder of young Caylee.  I planned to place it on the article Fishygirl has just posted, but it would not have allowed me space to post my own opinion, plus the article.  While I do not agree with the entire article, as I am convinced the family are also victims of Casey, I do agree with the "bottom line" of the author, so, here it is:



From the diaries by Erick

From the diaries by Erick
When the Casey Anthony verdict was announced I expected celebration from her defense team. I was more taken aback by the celebratory tone taken by pundits like Geraldo Rivera and Judge Andrew Napolitano. Their position is the same one that many liberals, anti-death penalty activists and libertarians are promoting now: this proves the system works.
But it doesn’t.
The American justice system is the greatest legal system in the world but like any other it is fallible. In the interest of liberty we err on the side of caution in criminal cases, but that means that in many cases we do not get justice. Talking heads on Fox were making the point that this was justice, that the verdict is a victory for the Constitution. This is wrong. Criminals getting off is a byproduct of a our love of liberty but it certainly isn’t an endorsement of our system.
Casey Anthony may or may not have killed her child but we know she committed several crimes afterward. She didn’t report her daughter missing for weeks. When police were finally involved she attempted to frame an innocent woman for murder. While her daughter was supposedly missing she was out partying. If not reporting your daughter missing for a month isn’t child abuse – or at least child neglect – nothing is
But a quirk in the law makes it so that that the same child abuse that can get your children taken away by CPS can’t put you in jail when that child turns up put in a garbage bag and thrown into a swamp. The best legal system in the world cannot bring justice to Caylee Anthony’s killer. This is the price we pay for liberty but it is hardly an endorsement of our system.
AND, THE BOTTOM LINE:
The Casey Anthony verdict doesn’t endorse our criminal justice system; it exposes our crumbling society. The courts can’t always dispense justice, it is up to society to protect our children. We need to bring back public shaming, we need to bring back the idea of moral responsibility separate from legal responsibility. Some people lament that Casey Anthony will not be able to hold a job or go out with her friends or meet a decent man because of the public scrutiny of the trial. Caylee Anthony will never be able to do those things either.
The Anthony family deserves society’s scorn, not our philosophical justifications of why they aren’t in prison. Caylee Anthony paid the ultimate price for being born into a family of dysfunctional criminals who by their own admission lied to police again and again to cover up a crime they say they played no part in. Our justice system failed to hold them legally responsible, now it remains to be seen if our moral fiber is as easily deceived as our courts.  The entire article is here ....
Flowers for Caylee ....