Kevin Marshall's America
Today Casey Anthony got away with murder, sparking outrage throughout the nation. (Joe Burbank, Pool / AP)
There is a sad, unspoken truth to the Casey Anthony case, and it doesn’t even pertain to the case itself.
Other than being aware of its existence from all the chatter I overheard and saw online, I was largely ignorant of the coverage. Shortly before the trial started I read some news articles and it seemed, to me anyway, that it was an open and shut case. The circumstances and evidence seemed far too damning for any defense lawyer to overcome.
Today the verdicts were read: guilty of providing false information, but not guilty of murder or manslaughter. I was legitimately surprised, but that comes with the caveat that as mentioned earlier I hadn’t followed the case since it started. And woe to those among us who either forget or underestimate the abilities of a trial lawyer to defy logic and conventional wisdom and grasp victory from the jaws of defeat.
That said, the real sad and unspoken truth is the reason why everyone’s been obsessed with this trial: because demonizing Casey Anthony makes us feel better about ourselves. The screams, shouts, and cries of outrage aren’t just damning Casey for what we perceive to be her actions, but in a weird way putting ourselves up on a pedestal for…well, not being Casey Anthony. Through the expression of our frustration, we bury our transgressions and sins by shoveling mounds of hate onto her. Some of us even publicly wish terrible things to happen to her; even more terrible than what we think she did to that poor child. The resulting ugliness is supported by a convenient and easy target, a selfish young woman who didn’t even report her child missing and figuratively danced on her grave.
The truth, however, is this: nothing excuses that much darkness in us. This woman and that child are strangers. The murder and its fallout do not exist in our realm of perception beyond what’s displayed on a television or monitor screen. We know only what Nancy Grace, the exalted Queen of Phony Outrage, has told us.
As excuses pour in over the next few days, people are sure to cite children in their family as the reason behind the emotional baggage that was unleashed earlier this afternoon. That carries little water when the same outrage isn’t even present, let alone expressed, when those very same people read and at times even discuss more terrible acts and atrocities committed to children throughout the world on a daily basis. Nor should it, for if we were to get this upset with every terrible deed we read or saw, we’d never get a good night’s sleep again, and we’d be driven mad with rage and indistinguishable from those we vilify.
None of this is to say Casey Anthony should be forgiven for what she did. It’d be easy if we could accept the verdict of the jury on faith alone, but our experience with the justice system in our country (great but imperfect as all things must be) won’t allow us to do that. Even still, some solace can be taken in the fact that while justice may not have been served on this day, her name will go down in infamy. Everywhere she goes, and everything she does, will be under a microscope. Times will be few when she will escape whispers or outright shouts of “murderer”. She may have avoided a legal conviction of murder, but she will live her life in a prison of shame, distrust, and judgment. She will have to carry that burden for the rest of her life. It is little solace for those who needed justice for that poor child, but it is something.
But we’re not the ones that need it. This case does not endanger our own children. It does not indicate that someone can get away with murder in this country any more than the O.J. Simpson verdict. Guilty persons have gotten away with crimes before, just as innocent people have been convicted. No system can be perfect, and to expect such is unreasonable.
So why are we so angry? It could be that like so many other things, we’re letting out anger and frustration over unrelated things and attributing it to this trial. Maybe we carry an insecurity that requires us to show other people that we’re a good person, and we think that rage against what we perceive as a great evil will do just that. Perhaps there’s something deep down that’s frustrated with Casey Anthony getting away with the unthinkable while we face consequences every day for far lesser misdeeds and mistakes in our own lives. Regardless of the reasons, all this anger can’t be healthy.
I’m not saying we can’t be upset. I’m just saying that all this talk is for naught if we aren’t willing to examine why we’re having this conversation in the first place.
See also: What we are guilty of in Casey Anthony’s case (Rev. Alan Rudnick)
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101 Responses to Does hating Casey Anthony make us better people?
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STALK ME
The closer we are to someone, the more emotional our reactions are to that person. 24/7 coverage of trials gives those who choose to indulge in the coverage the opportunity to partake in a synthetic intimacy with the accused. There is an unreal yet tangible feeling like the viewer knows this person, and knows the victim. Really the hardcore trial junkies have probably spent as much time and energy thinking about Casey and Caylee Anthony over the last couple months as they have of anyone in their own physical or filial existence. For these people Casey Anthony has become their own misbegotten daughter, sibling, mother, etc. The child is a missing member of a family that never existed. And today is the denial of justice for that child who was never theirs, and exoneration for the prodigal whatever in their lives. All of the many injustices in the world that exist in the abstract and distance can never hope to have the impact that a family memeber’s issues, even when it is a family member who is not at all part of your family.
God never closes a door without opening a window.
it does make us better people because now we know we can kill and get away with it . i for one have someone in mind to knock off .
No hating Casey doesn’t make us better people not being baby killers make us better people. I think most people’s hatred is in the fact that our justice system failed and someone who is guilty of killing a beautiful child has been set free. If you take a look at the evidence against that woman she was very much guilty. They found evidence of body decomposition in the woman’s trunk, as well as a hair from Caylee. Why lie to police if you were sure of your innocence. It was mentioned I think by her defense attorney that the little girl drowned and then Casey freaked out and hid the body how does that explain the duck tape on the little girls mouth. I’m a big believer in karma that woman will pay one way or another. Just don’t buy her book when she writes one definitely don’t want this worthless person profiting on killing her daughter!!!
FYI, your article was on the front page of Google News!! I’ll send you a screenshot if you want :)
Regarding article, I followed this trial closely and was very surprised at the verdict. Whether she did it or not, only she knows for sure.
At least Casey Anthony didn’t kill a puppy. You wanna talk about outrage…They’d still be cleaning her up with paper towels.
If you think the Caylee Anthony murder is horrific, read the story in the August issue of Glamour magazine: “We were prisoners in a house of torture, but we survived.” This story will have you outraged and disgusted but also wondering how many other children are enduring this kind of abuse. As neighbors, please keep watch of the children in your neighborhood and report ANYTHING suspicious. Who knows, maybe you can save a child’s life.
Does hating Casey Anthony make us better people? Of course not, that is like saying “Would a guilty of murder verdict bring Calee Anthony back?”. No, but maybe hating Casey Anthony, or just loathing her warped mind will somehow reduce the pain many are feeling over the horrible death of this innocent child.
The reason we are having this visceral reaction is we all recognize that something is unraveling in the fabric of our society. The social norms and mores that keep societal communities moving forward weaving the fabric that holds us together that keeps us from breaking down into anarchy, and barbaric behavior is in jeopardy.. We can all feel it we keep looking for justice in a world that is becomming unstable to us. The Casey Anthony story reminds us that this world is not making any sense..
Totally with you on this one. One of people’s favorite passtimes of late. Says a lot about our society today.
Well said. I threw in my two cents earlier: http://blog.timesunion.com/rudnick/what-we-are-guilty-of-in-casey-anthonys-case/1912/
This trial and “hating Casey Anthony” does NOT make me feel better about myself. It further whittles away what little lingering faith I have in humanity and in the justice system.
A person who kills their own child, or any child for that matter, deserves nothing less than the violent hatred of the community.
Yes, the media is making a huge profit. If there is an h-e-double-hockey-sticks, maybe they will join Miss Anthony.
Long before this trial began, the State of Florida deliberately and maliciously *made* people hate Casey Anthony by every means at its disposal. Day in and day out, it endlessly hawked every bit of gossip, every jailhouse conversation, every negative thing that Casey had ever said or ever done. The State demonized Casey in every way possible so that she would implicitly be seen as guilty because she is a “bad person”. This was a substitute for the fact that the State could not even prove that Caylee *was* murdered, much less that Casey murdered her. Add to that Nancy Grace, the prosecutor dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct, who proceeded to put Casey Anthony on trial every night, three times a night, before the entire world for months. So of course people hate Casey. Both the State and Nancy Grace convinced us long before the trial began that Casey Anthony was a despicable human being who planned and carried out a premeditated murder of her daughter just so she could party all the time. The State’s strategy worked on everyone except the jury and thank God. The State’s pre-trial conduct is EXACTLY why we have the judicial system that we do: that the State MUST prove a crime beyond reasonable doubt. Because it is far too easy for the State to make someone LOOK guilty, and it did its best in this case, aided and abetted by Nancy Grace. Convicting someone of premeditated capital murder when the coroner testifies that the State doesn’t even know whether a murder was committed would have been a true miscarriage of justice.
To clarify, I believe this veiled outrage over this “poor dead child” is crap. It really is all about the self-esteem boost.
I was feeling pretty crappy about myself the day that Weiner story came out. I must say, it really did cheer me up…Like, I’m not THAT mental…Phew.
Is this psycho-analysis 101?! It’s true that we all have transgressions, but none of them even come close to this. I am disgusted with Casey Anthony AND the gullibility of the jury to fall to the spin that these lawyers threw out. I am a mother, and so I find it difficult to shrug and say, “Has nothin’ to do with me…who cares?” I dislike her because she did the unthinkable…and if we are going to talk Psych 101, how about that when unspeakable events occur that go beyond the common transgression, we struggle to understand them, firstly, and secondly, we want justice and closure…if not for the victim, then for everyone in this web, this society, who has put his or her trust in the system.
The complete hypocrisy of society never, ever fails to amaze me. Is it sad an innocent 2 year old is dead? Yes. But two things will be ignored:
1.) This family is completely and utterly destroyed.
2.) By no means will Casey Anthony “go free”, as Nancy Grace is so fond of saying. Her sentence will be hearing the taunts where ever she goes, and living in society but most likely having no future.
People think themselves justified for carrying hate in their hearts towards her because they’re “moms” and “grandmas” and what have you. They want “justice for Caylee”. In my opinion, that is the worst kind of tribute for that little girl.
Ellen - Boy, that might get us into an even bigger discussion. But I do need to point out that the murder of children is hardly a new occurence and is as old as time. I mean, it’s in the Bible. Literally.
I’m sorry, maybe I’ll be lambasted for this, but as far as I know, neither you nor anyone commenting here condemning Casey Anthony were on the jury. None of you are privy to the hours upon hours of testimony, the evidence (or lack thereof in this case), or anything else other than what the media dramatized and presented to us. As another commenter said, Anthony was demonized from the moment this case began. Yes, she lied, yes she seems like a pretty bad person, but to go from telling lies to murdering your own child in cold blood is a pretty big leap. Anyone following this trial has seen maybe 2 percent of what was actually presented IN trial – anyone who has attended a trial or served on a jury for a criminal case can tell you that. This woman is presumed innocent until proven guilty and prosecutors failed to prove her guilt. Did she do it? I don’t know and neither does anyone else except her.
They don’t even know how the little girl died in the first place. How can you convict someone of murdering another person when you don’t even know how that person died?
A, your full of it. This is not a high point to the day or a laugh like Weiner provided. If you are not disgusted by the thought of a child murderer getting off, then YOU are the one with issues, not the rest of us.
Your holier than thou attitude is transparent. You are feeling better about yourself by criticizing the people who are outraged over this.
This is one of those days when I wish I could say to the whole human race “screw you guys I’m going home”!
The justice system isn’t working? Why, because someone being vilified in the media was found not guilty? There’s a reason we have actual trials where both sides present arguments instead of a media circus.
Please, Ann. The only one who sounds ‘holier than thou’ is you.
But, yes, I do feel better than you people, because I know in my heart that I honestly care about people and their pain, and I know the only reason to dogpile on someone is to hide insecurity. And yes, I do get some solace from pointing that out, because it is SO PREVALENT today that it makes me sick. Sicker than murder. I mean, Hello, 80% of the world is on happy pills (or more). What does that tell you?
Cant believe she got way with murder!! She never cried looking at pictures of her daughter but did cry hearing she was not guilty. No matter what she knows what she did and that was kill her little girl.
And furthermore, I believe that the universe has its own justice system, and I’m not all that worried about what will come of Ms. Anthony. She is the one suffering the worst losses of all…her child, her self-respect, her dignity, respect from her peers, her privacy…What’s left? If she’s not going to feel it in this life, it will come sometime.
The jury system determines neither guilt nor innocence. It determines guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Not guilty does not mean innocent, it means there was reasonable doubt of guilt. So if you’re upset over this verdict you can’t fault the jury, you should fault the prosecutor for making a weak case. It was pretty weak, but if you listened only to Nancy Grace you wouldn’t know that.
The justice system works just fine. The media is broken.
I just want to know how much attention would be given to this if it involved a little black girl.
I agree that the murder case was not made by prosecutors. But what I find most troubling, is that she couldn’t be charged with anything even though she admitted (to helping?) dispose of her daughter’s body in a swamp and did not report an unattended death for over a month. That was what her defense attorney said happened. That she discovered Caylee drowned in a pool, freaked out, called her father, and George shows up dumps the body in a swamp in order to make it look like murder. (G. Anthony denies this)
I just think there MUST be some kind of illegal activity in those actions. Can anyone help me out here?
And I think it’s true that more people were riled about this because more people knew about it. (Thank You Media) But I also think most people see Nancy Grace for the crazy that she is and do not blindly follow her into the rabbit hole.
Well Kevin,
You must be a superior person because you managed to stay above the fray. Your mind cannot be tainted with such tawdry gossip, you must continue to meditate on issues of the higher realm. Kudos to you, Kevin.
Hellomolly,
You stated, “Yes, she lied, yes she seems like a pretty bad person, but to go from telling lies to murdering your own child in cold blood is a pretty big leap.”
I guess I would agree that lying does not necessarily make you a murderer.
But, I have a question.
Under what circumstances would a person provide false information to investigators looking into the disappearance of their child?
I dont hate anyone but from listening to the facts she should have to spend her lifetime in prison ,,no more than is expected of anyone else who kills their children. I dont think any part of this makes anyone feel better about themselves, There is a baby that died and was disgared in a swamp doesnt matter who you are that has to effect everyone. We all have to follow the rules and laws of this country and to just write this off as hating Casey is wrong. We all know she will profit by selling her story to the media , no I dont hate her I hate HER ACTIONS.
She wasn’t guilty. The jury was at the trial, you weren’t, why do you think you are in a better perception to judge the evidence? You even admit you didn’t follow the case… so shouldn’t you objectively conclude that you don’t know enough to render judgement?
She will not suffer, she doesnt care, she will make lots of money and live her life while her daughters bones are put away and forgotten ,,book offers, movie offers and the good life lies ahead for her. If people are yelling at her then so be it she doesnt care anyway…no such thing as justice in our country
We’ll see how she’s sentenced. I’m not sure the judge will let her fly in a year for that elaborate coverup of the situation.
I’m not saying that chick doesn’t have probs. I don’t see her functioning well in society for the duration of her life unless she truly faces what happened and makes serious changes. I think we’ll see her on the news in the future…but I hope I’m wrong.
Well thanks to the Jury they just gave Casey the Beautiful Life that her tattoo states. She is free of her child to party. I am so angry I could throw up. I would think hat if a mother doesn’t call someone when their child is missing for 31 days and goes out partying and gets a tattoo saying Beautiful Life that would come under the Child Abuse verdict and she should get 30 years at least…My lord I have no faith anymore. What does this say to people? What kind of world do we live in? I can only hope that God is the final judge and Casey meets her maker when she walks out the prison doors. I hope her life is hell and I hope everyone who sees her calls her for what she is…A Baby Killer. I Liar and what her parents called her…an Unfit mother who thinks she is going to live the Beautiful Life…get a new tattoo Casey that says a Hell Life!
In answer to Jeff….did the prosecution not prove that she didn’t call anyone for 31 days. That she did not get a tattoo on July 3rd while her child was still missing that says Beautiful Life? If you want to say that the evidence of a decomposing smell in her trunk, a hair that is Caylees with decomposing band on it in her trunk, a mother that does not call anyone to say she is missing, a mother that threw her in a swamp 15 houses away from where she lived, a coffin laundry bag that was only in the Anthony’s garage, duct tape that is very rare that was in the Anthony’s garage, and cadaver dogs hitting on the backyard where she obvioulsy layed the baby to try and burry her but then decided the ground was to hard so she didn’t need that shovel she borrowed from the neighbor because it was just easier to throw her in the swamp down the street where she burried her pets then that is fine it did not prove it beyond a reasonable doubt but it did prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this mother neglected to call ANYONE when her baby went missing and that is child abuse in the biggest form. MY GOD when my son went missing in a store for a few seconds I could not breath, I thought I would have a heart attack and this mom parties and calls NOBODY! I am sick to my stomach and this jury just wanted to go home. They need to live with this decision and I hope they see pictures of that little baby that died at the hands of her mother who this jury just let loose to live her Beautiful Life…won’t happen Casey get a new tattoo that says A Life of Hell…that is what you will live and God will be your final judge!
Kevin Marshall you apparently second as a psychologist now, it seems.
I was outraged at how the jury could find the psychopath not guilty. I never participated in more than a look here or there at the coverage and only really watched the closing arguments. What I knew was from reports I read online.
Everything appeared to show that she had, indeed, murdered her daughter and to see that she was not guilty did make me a little upset.
I would think it would say more about someone who wasn’t upset about a mother who murdered their child getting off than people who did get upset.
How can you say this: “I never participated in more than a look here or there at the coverage and only really watched the closing arguments.”
And then go on in the next sentence to say “Everything appeared to show she had…” etc. How could everything, in your view, appear to show anything when you readily admit you know very, very little about the case in the first place?
This is the problem with a lot of people’s view of this case. Making a judgment not based on logic, evidence, or facts, but rather on snippets taken out of context and presented to a rabid public by a media more than willing to demonize a woman if it meant higher ratings.
Our legal system is among the most advanced in the world. It holds that for an individual to be deprived of their human rights (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), they must be proven guilty of a crime beyond a shadow of a doubt. The legal system did not fail in this case – it performed as it should. There was doubt. Throwing someone in jail for their character flaws when the lack of evidence and the inability to even prove the victim was in fact murdered in the first place would have been a travesty.
You’ve all assumed the girl is guilty, you’ve all condemned her, but you don’t really know that she is guilty. She could well be innocent, you know. Shame on you all.
Who are you to say why society doesn’t agree with someone getting away with murder?! It has not one iota to do with society feeling self-righteous or somehow above reproach or sin. It has to do with a sense of complete injustice when the facts spoke for themselves, not to mention massive amounts of common sense! It doesn’t make me feel any better about myself to condemn a guilty person who killed their child and got away with it. Quite contrarily, I’m feeling zero joy after this verdict and all the anger I’m feeling. Any venting and condemnation coming out of my mouth hasn’t much alleviated the utter rage I’m feeling over this. Please do me favor and don’t speak for society and tell us why we’re utterly disgraced at this travesty of justice.
and some of us write blogs that demonize the demonizers to make ourselves feel better…or type on and on about the disappointing parts of the human psyche that we’ve evolved to not be a part of…
of course in these blogs we say its actually good that people are going to demonize casey anthony, so that she’ll live in infamy etc…so the demonizing is at once good and bad, yes? No need for your thoughts to have any logical consistency since the aim is ego coddling, right?
Awesomedude – There’s no logical inconsistency in saying that we should probably ask why we demonize figures so distant from us while acknowledging that it happens. I won’t hold it against you, though, because I don’t expect someone who calls himself awesomedude and accuses other people of having an ego to have any semblance of reading comprehension skills.
Nothing really needs be said except this: http://indiealbany.com/2011/05/10/you-aint-got-a-dog-in-that-fight/
I hate people who always assume someone is GUILTY before the trial even begins. It’s sad that people like Nancy Grace & countless others on CNN bashed Jose Baez the whole trial. They never had evidence of how she died or DNA. Inappropriate behavior does not equal guilt.
FreakyRobber –
And there you go.
The more I read about this case the more I wonder why people who followed it so intently aren’t expressing more frustration with how the case was built and subsequently prosecuted. This all reads like a championship boxer going into a fight with his hands at his waist and getting knocked out. It’s like, yeah, he should have been the better fighter, but if you fight sloppy and keep your hands down you’re going to lose. It seems like there was far too much resting on her reputation and not, as you pointed out, enough on the evidence. That approach just begs for a good trial lawyer to poke holes in it. This wasn’t a miscarriage of justice or crack in the foundation of the legal system, and it’s not as if all twelve people were out of their minds. The prosecution lost that case, pure and simple.
Now George and Cindy Anthony are getting death threats. Tell me how that’s any better.
Ms. Anthony is not a likable person, and I spent as much time avoiding this trial as I could.
That said: the prosecution could not come up with a time of death, cause of death. The defense came up with an alternative version of events which did not involve murder.
Yeah, my gut says she did it. But my gut doesn’t say “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt”; that’s the standard we’d expect if we were being prosecuted, and that’s what she got. “Not guilty” is not “innocent”.
hellomolly – I apologize, when I said, “I never participated in more than a look here or there at the coverage and only really watched the closing arguments.” I was referring to the television coverage only.
I thoroughly read all about the case. I just meant I followed the case through newspapers and the internet as opposed to tv because it’s not so easy to actually sit and watch all the hours of the case. It would have been too much for me, as it would most other people.
But, I assure you I know more than I’ll ever need to know about the case.
I’ll start over with my last comment that you responded to and just say, I only looked at the television coverage here and there, but ready thoroughly on the case from beginning to end. And with all the information that I read, in addition to what I did see online and in the newspaper, I can confidently say with common sense flowing through my brain that Casey Anthony is guilty in my mind taking into account everything that I saw/read.
Happy hellomolly?
I do not know much about the in’s and outs of the trial, only what I glanced at when on the Internet or flipping through tv channels. What I do take issue with are all the people sitting here and on other blogs crucifying the jury for their decision, and saying that justice failed today. No it didn’t. I believe the jury did exactly what they were supposed to. They walked into that jury room with a reasonable doubt in their heads. Therefore, there was only one decision to make. “Beyond Reasonable Doubt”, not our feelings or what we want to believe, is the most important part of our justice system. The prosecution did not, evidently, prove the case “beyond a reasonable doubt”. Therefore, the jury did what they were supposed to.
Just as a hoot, I did turn on Nancy Grace while writing this. 1) she is actually posting screen shots of each juror’s personal information??? 2) She is vilifying the defense being in a bar having champagne. Heck, if I had won a case of that magnitude, I’d be smiling and having some champagne.
Does this make me a bad person? No, I don’t think so.
Kevin I am a big fan of the Blog and I know from it you like out of box things , as do I.
Here is a link of a group of The Onion and they have brought Indie bands into the Studio to cover some songs……….It is really interesting and peeked my interest…..thought you would enjoy
http://www.avclub.com/articles/low-covers-toto,53049/
I hate evil, therefore I hate the murderer, Casey Anthony. Well, her attorney , to me, is evil too. He lied like a horse thief to get her off, and look what happened. May they both rot in hell, and before that get the crap beat out of them!
I don’t think they–the defense team–should be celebrating for lying, and destroying a family, KNOWING they were lying and destroying George, Cindy and Lee. Where is that murderer going to live now? With her parents again? Hey, maybe she will kill them next, and get off again if they have a stupid jury again, as this one was. Were they all brain dead?
Mia– isn’t HATE evil, too? Or is it somehow justified because “it’s for Caylee”?
I’m pretty sure wishing people get beaten up before going to hell is pretty evil, Mia.
She might have got away with it but we all know what really happened to that little beautiful girl oh my god it hurts me so bad just to know we have no one account for this killing of Caylee Anthony. God knows best people. God knows best. The jury decided. They made the call and we live with it. Thats messed up!! From people who have been following the case knows what happened. This was a accident that balled out of control right? right!
How many innocent children die every day that people dont care about. I never hear people say that the african warlords should burn in hell for the genocides that happen every day. But no lets make this woman who wasnt proven to have murdered her daughter seem like the devil. We werent there and we have no idea what happened but hell lets just pretend we are all sherlock holmes and cracked the case. I dont know what really happened and neither do you, i hope she can get back to as normal of a life as possible and that the rest of america can drop the whole outraged act. I dont believe she is totally innocent but i also doubt she was the only person involved and she doesnt deserve the death penalty or life in prison. The evidence doesnt add up no matter how many people say it does.
Just because I’m not shouting from the rooftops what an irresponsible, selfish pig this chick comes off as being, doesn’t mean if I knew her that I would be warm and friendly and accepting of her. You don’t have to make a gruesome spectacle of yourself to show that you are disgusted with someone who is so OBVIOUSLY…well, not quite right. A person can still live in infamy among cold shoulders, shunning, and whispers.
And yes, “not guilty” is not “innocent”.
“Does hating Casey Anthony make us better people?” No, I think it makes us people in need of closure. A guilty verdict would have provided closure: a child is dead, and her killer has been caught and put away. A not-guilty verdict answers nothing.
Kevin, I know about as little about this case as you, perhaps even less. From what I do know, it appears that either the evidence was not sufficient or, like in the OJ case, the prosecution completely botched the case. I agree with comment #13 in that she was convicted in the court of public opinion long before this ever saw the inside of a courtroom. Did she do it? Probably. But I’ve seen enough cop shows and legal dramas to know that “probably” isn’t good enough. “Probably” might get you an arrest, it might even get charges filed, but a conviction requires “beyond a shadow of a doubt”, and obviously the jurors felt that said standard was not reached.
I think I meant “beyond a reasonable doubt” there, rather than “beyond a shadow of a doubt”.
What about the laundry bag? That is the evidence that seems the most overlooked. This was described as one in a set of two – the other in the Anthony home. Even if it was an “accident”, the child abuse charge should have stuck. If she made the claim it was an accident in her defense then she had knowledge of it. If she had knowledge of it then she was there. Did she call 911 and try to save Caylee’s life – no = child abuse. Stuffing the body in a laundry bag and dumping it = child abuse. If that isn’t, what is? The disillusionment I feel is so terribly confusing, depressing and these are scary feelings to have now about what the right and wrongs of society are today. The world doesn’t make sense to me tonight. I hope I can shake this grip of evil that feels all around me as a result of tuning into this case.
Ugh. The darkness within us? Really? Being deeply disappointed that a woman who killed her child and walked free doesn’t mean we “hate” her. It means we’re heartbroken that she walked. We’re funny that way. No complex, societal reason. No evil within us. Just a miscarriage of justice. Not to be mean, but to be honest, this author sounds like he’s about 22, and is harkening back to that Psych 101 class he took a few years ago and is analyzing/diagnosing the American public as a whole. Epic fail.
Rainbow - Your talking about your personal reaction and feelings, which are different to what’s being discussed (and what’s been displayed in some of these comments).
with all the outrage over the verdict of her “obvious guilt” which i listened to on a phone chatline last night, it makes me wonder how these people justify THEIR OWN life of making horrific accusations to other people that are obvious lies and even saying things that are too lewd to repeat about their parents, dead or alive, accusing a recent suicide victim’s sister of killing him, the list goes on. i only bring this up because i understand the outrage, i don’t understand the lack of responsibility for what is a very emotionally charged issue but take no responsibility for their own execution of souls. i feel a need to comfort these people that are actually in such pain that i fear for them and i can come up with nothing that is a guarantee i don’t make things worse. i would love to have words for these abusers that screaming at the top of their lungs over this verdict and are guilty of slaying souls in their own right. why don’t people look in the mirror before they become so involved with what is not within them to change?
#13- “Convicting someone of premeditated capital murder when the coroner testifies that the State doesn’t even know whether a murder was committed ”
The death certificate states Caylee’s death was a HOMICIDE by unknown means. That means a murder was committed, they just can not determine how, because the body was so decomposed, and there was no forensic evidence to tell them how she was murdered.
The child was murdered, and justice will never be served.
you’re confusing semantics for syntactics.
you say its wrong/bad to demonize ms. anthony, your conclusion being that there is no excuse for the ‘darkness’ that create invective and publicly declared wishes for bad things to happen to ms. anthony.
then you state we should take solace in the fact that she will live in infamy, face shouts of murderer wherever she goes etc. You call this a good thing even if its just something.
The interpretation is this- you call invective and hate a bad thing and then you call it something we should take solace in.
Awesomedude
Even rephrasing it in your own words and twisting the interpretation you barely have a point.
We’ve all seen children in our lives who we strongly suspect are being physically or emotionally abused, neglected…or who are just hungry or in need of attention due to lack of parental resources. I hope that those of you who claim to care so much about children take the time to give these (live) kids an extra smile or kind word…or that you encourage your own kids to be kind to them or invite them to your house for a meal now and then.
Somehow, I think that these folks would be very quick to call “white trash”, or “poor ghetto trash” and ignore these young people. I think that you are likely to be watching these kids from your minivan outside of the school, giggling about them with your own children…about the way they dress, about the old clunker their parents have to drive, or about the rumors that their mom drinks a little too much. I mean, please, we’ve all been there…
A child is dead, and she died alone and probably afraid. That’s the most salient issue. Yes, a media-hyped society gave us an unlikable, photogenic, seemingly psychotic 20-something crappy mom to blame. Is she guilty? Probably; she is certainly not innocent. But the prosecutors in this case couldn’t prove that.
That’s the second major issue. Our justice system works; sometimes it just works for the wrong people. A tangible metaphor for the US itself.
Cassie B
Great point, and in terms of the justice system specifically, that’s what we need to take away from all this. The system is not set up to convict people of poor character, but rather to try them for a specific crime. And in this case the prosecution failed to do the latter.
#65 Wow, A. How did you know what my family’s favorite past time is? It’s just like you were with us in our non-existent Honda Odyssey every afternoon!
I just love when supposedly non-judgmental people go around judging the supposedly judgmental people.
Hypocritical people make me laugh.
I am happy someone said this, posted this, and transliterated it.
Amen to that. If this were a black girl from a poor family in Detroit, no one would have cared half as much.
the verdict does endanger children everywhere. anytime a person walks after abusing/neglecting (at the very least, though i’m pretty certain this was murder) a child, it sends a message to society that the life of a child isn’t nearly as valuable as the freedom of an adult. society should voice their outrage. it is our responsibility to give a voice to abused, for the abused are violently silenced.
I followed this case for 3 years and sat every day and watched every moment of the trial. I was shocked how this jury could not at least find her guilty of Child Abuse. You say the prosecution could not come up with a time of death or how? Well they did come up with a mother who didn’t report her child missing for 31 days and was out partying and getting tattoos during the time she was missing. They did have a rare duct tape with the little girls hair on it, a car that smelled like death that belonged to Casey among various other evidence. It only takes common sense to know a mother was last seen with her daughter and nobody then saw that little girl and the mother lied and lied and only got caught when her own mother called the police on her. This is disgusting that people can’t see this as at least Child Abuse. This jury never asked to see the evidence, never asked a question and came in on Tuesday morning dressed up knowing they were giving their verdict. They put no time or thought into some of the facts in this case that something was wrong with this mother not reporting her child missing. All fingers point to Casey. At least, if the jury believed the Defense story of drowning in the pool and George said we better cover this up because your mother is going to kill you then would that not make Casey guilty of conspiracy with George? Should you not charge her for that then….how about the Defense saying she was abused by George and Lee yet did not put ONE person on the stand that proved it. Not a teacher, school counselor or anyone else but a boyfriend that said Casey (the liar) told him a story about Lee…..this was a smoke screen by the Defense and Casey got away with the murder of a beautiful little girl who had every right to trust her mother and live a long and happy life. Casey will now get out, find another boyfriend and get pregnant and start the lies and life of partying all over again and then what….she figures she got away with it once before why not again and throws the new child away like trash? My stomach is sick that this statement was made by this jury and it is a black mark on our justice system. I just hope her life is hell when she gets out. I hope nobody offers her any book deals or movie deals. This girl has stolen, lied and killed….she deserves to suffer like that little girl of hers did.
I hope Zenida Gonzales the lady she stole the information and life from goes after her full force.
Do I think she did it? yes
Do I think she should face the death penalty? yes
Does that make me feel better about myself?no
I know I would not have wanted to be on the jury.
All the “karma” and “sowing and reaping” are not enough I guess….makes me a little sad that I feel this way, but there you go.
If you aren’t one of those people, then why are you worried about what I think? But, I’ve been out in the world for a long enough time to know there are a lot of people who ARE. If you don’t know anyone like that, then good for you. If you feel like you and your family is privledged, and maybe you do take it for granted and condemn people or not, then maybe I hit a nerve.
I admit it. I find it interesting when people really go out on a limb to criticise someone else. There is always something behind it, and many people don’t seem to notice.
“condemn people who are not”
“criticize”
Ellen, you hit the nail directly on the head. I could’t agree more!
“Somehow, I think that these folks would be very quick to call “white trash”, or “poor ghetto trash” and ignore these young people. I think that you are likely to be watching these kids from your minivan outside of the school, giggling about them with your own children…about the way they dress, about the old clunker their parents have to drive, or about the rumors that their mom drinks a little too much. I mean, please, we’ve all been there…” – A.
“I admit it. I find it interesting when people really go out on a limb to criticise(sic)someone else. There is always something behind it, and many people don’t seem to notice.” – A.
Hmmm…IMHO it seems to me, you are really going out of your way to criticize others in that first quote…I wonder what’s behind that? Have you noticed yet?
Still SMH and laughing.
If her brother molested her. Why did she name her child Caylee??
Hypothetical: A young woman lives years ago; long before DNA or forensic science. She has a young child. Locals notice her checking out books at the library on poisons and bone breaking. Her young child goes missing. Friends and family ask where the child is and the parent diverts attention with false people and whimisical tales of trips and nannys. During this time she dates and goes to parties. Finally, after a month, family members confront her and oh, her horse wagon/transportation smells like a dead body. Authorities question her and she continues to spin yarns about where the child could be while showing little remorse or care for the missing child. Months later her child is found not far from her home, bound and decompossing.
What would her peers think?
Modern day: A defense attorney spins yarns about molestion and drownings (very dramatically, I might add) without an iota of evidence while the Prosecution methodically lays out a case…with modern forensics, and the jury acquits.
Thanks for all the thoughtful commentary here. Lot of smart people.
I feel bad for this kid, but the system let her down. It’s one of those filtered subjects–having chosen bits and pieces to absorb. It’s really out of our hands.
I think she got away with murder of that little girl. Now we should handle her when she gets out. she should be treated the way that little girl was done. If she out walking the streets, she better be beware of getting hurt cause there is alot of people out there who will hurt her. She better not go in the bars that is the worse place to go . She better watch her back at all times. There is people who will hurt her. She will get what is coming to her one day. How could she kill a small child like that. The parents are to blame also and the brother. They should have to pay for that crime. She was laughing when she got off with the crime. that is so sad.
yo casey you did it now make sure you send me some of that money help me out i need some money good looking girl
you got lucky and you wont get away with this god is big and you will pay
Seriously….All this passion intohating someone. Can you not direct it to doing something to make your community safer…If you dislike something…tomake a difference change what you are doing….The lonely widow down the street..talk to her..get to know your neighbors…watch out for each other. Hating takes a lot of energy…use it for something that you can change…or ias that too much effort on your part….hating behind a wall on facebook is just bullying. And blame the prosecutor for not getting enough evidence that the jurors could use!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To all of you that hate casey anthony, just think God does all the judging not youuu when are all you haters going to realize that, Also i would like to say if she did do that horrible crime then the man the higher up which we know is the lord will definitly take care of her shes not getting away if she did it so calm down i know its easy to hate than to forgive here on earth but please let god decide and guess what he will!!!
To all you people that hate and play judge guess what you will be judged. the bible says he without sin cast the 1st stone, and honestly can you?
Nancy-Jesus said that to a crowd about to stone a woman to death for adultry, not murder. However, as I don’t believe in the death penalty I wouldn’t be the first or last to cast a stone, but if Casey Anthony was on fire I wouldn’t pee on her to put it out either.
Oh and BTW Nancy, where was God when Calee Anthony was murdered?
@89, Probably holding her hand and crying…
Most of these hate spreaders would call themselves Christian. I challenge you to do as your savior would have. Do not spread false rumors and Forgive. What do you think Jesus would do? I say he would put his arms around her and say to the crowd, Shame on you!
The trial has been held she has been found innocent of murder. I think she is in the Hands of God. If she is truely innocent then
boy are we are making a great mistake and we are no better than she
if she is guilty than we still are no better than she. Leave it to
God
O J. Thought he has it made and now look where he is. I think
the Robe mentality is so wrong. She is out and now you have innocent people who look like her being treated Does this make sense.
not to me In closing I say American Cut the crap Leave the girl be and Let the Boss handle the action and if she is innocent or guilty He Will.
I couldn’t agree more with the posted Pat Gorman…Please live your lives…and leave the woman alone. This is not you job to judge anyone, nor persecute her…she had her time in jail and in court.
God will take care of whomever is responsible. Take up a good cause and go see the needy children that are alive and well that need your HELP! If you were so concerned about children, there’s a million of alive, that are needing food, shelter and clothing…perhaps doing them some good will get your hate which is poisoning your minds…don’t watch Nancy Grace, she’s filled with venom for anyone and made a killing on this case for HLN (the blood channel) ratings..as a matter of fact, all the newstations did…try to think for yourself as to WHY they got you so riled.
people really need to get on with there own lives and pray that there lives are not anguished like this pray for Casey and Caley is all you can do wake up and get a life leave it up to God.
Vierotchka….we can say she is guilty. I watched this case for 3years and the whole trial…this girls defense even gave a theory in opening arguments that the baby drowned in the pool and George told Casey that her mother would be angry and they had to hide it from her…soo….who put that baby in the swamp? Doesn’t this make someone guilty of child neglect. You don’t take a prescious baby and throw her in the swamp with a laundry bag from your house, a winnie the pooh blanket from the babies crib and an outfit that only Casey had because Cindy said she does the wash and that outfit must be one Casey keeps in a bag in her car for when she travels with her…..did someone take that outfit out of Casey’s car and put it on her…no Casey did when she drove away angry after fighting with her mother because her mother said she was an unfit mother….yes this girl is definately guilty of child neglect if not murder. She definately got away with murder but God will be her final judge!
To all of you who say Jesus did not judge I beg to differ. He did judge and just by telling us not to sin he is judging us. Please stop with telling us that we should not judge Casy…we all do this and you act so Christian you are judging us by telling us what we should do and believe. We all have freedom of speach and that is what we are doing. We have opinions and you don’t have a right to judge us for our opinion. Nobody in this world is perfect. We all make mistakes but hopefully they are small mistakes that do not hurt or kill others like Casey did. She stole from friends and family and even her poor old grandfather from a nursing home, she then did something to her child and put her in a swamp….Sorry but I am going to cast a stone and if God feels I am wrong for this when I have my day he will then judge me on that not you…Read below just how Jesus judged……………..
Matthew 23 … Jesus was blasting the scribes and Pharisees through out the chapter. He said that all the blood shed by their fathers would come down on their heads “Them” sons of Satan.
Jesus told those men that was standing before him of the things that they were going to do to his disciples in the years to come. And they did.
Jesus also told his disciples in the next chapter of the things that the Pharisees were going to do to them.
Yes I think that Jesus judged the scribes and Pharisees
People have been verbally attacking me on Facebook because I believe that Casey Anthony is not guilty. I took it for a while and then I got ugly back. I’ve never been good at being a being a Christian. I don’t totally give up on it for fear of going to hell. I have one question though. Since you burn in eternity, does God give you a new body just to burn? I’ll probably be cremated because I am poor. Plus, everyone is calling me a moron, retarded, I have cobwebs in my private parts, etc. I just don’t see the kind of meaness in Casey Anthony that I suppose it would take to kill her own child. But I see the kind of meaness in Nancy Grace that could accomplish any evil she set out to do. Some of the people who claim to love Caylee are just the types I would suspect really killed her.
Nostradamus was right about Casey Anthony. And I am waiting for the man who is the monster to confess and lose his soul in months of 8 and 10. This was the trial of our century. So, don’t be in denial.
Pray for Nancy. Maybe her job just got to her. It is easy to fall into a pattern of hate.
I do not hate her, I just want her to be run over by a truck.
Marge you are entitled to your opinions on Casey. It is wrong that people are calling you names. I think everyone has their right to opinion and my anger comes when others who disagree attack. However, as stated, you are entitled to believe Casey did not hurt her child, I,however, think there is no question that she was involved with this childs death. Do I think it was premeditated….no….I think she left her home so angry after the fight with her motherand Caylee was upset and crying and she lost control of the situation. I believe she felt Caylee was the means to all her troubles with men and her parents in her life. Just my opinion and I can’t see how a loving mother would not tell or report her child missing to anyone. IT took 31 days to realize she was missing only when her mother CIndy put pressure and called the cops on her. How long would it have gone on if her mother did not put that pressure on her? That, to me, is not a loving mother…If my child got lost in a store for 1 minute I would stop breathing and run for help immediately. She…chose to party and get a tattoo of “The Good Life” As for Nancy Grace she is a child advicate and has lost her fiancee to murder so maybe she takes this stuff serious. However, she was not the only one reporting on this case there were other news agencies reporting and giving negative opinions also. Don’t listen when people call you a moron as you have your right to your opinion and speach…just don’t attack others for giving theirs either. Nancy has her right to report on this and Casey did steal, lie and hurt many people with all her lies….