Caylee Passes as Justice Goes Unserved

Three years ago I was saddened. A little girl with unforgettable brown eyes on a precious face was missing.  As the story unfolded, the little girl's mother became a suspect. WIth details, the extent to which Caylee Marie Anthony began to touch my heart rose more than I thought possible.  I felt for her.  I despised her mother. Casey Anthony.

Three years later, I became entangled in the drama of Casey Anthony's murder trial.  The legal hoops, twists, and turns all became something I couldn't pull myself from.  Today, in my opinion, a miscarriage of justice occurred. Casey Anthony was found guilty of only lying to the police.  A defense team pulls off what many considered to be the impossible, and tops it off with a dressing down of the media in the post-verdict press conference.  Casey is seen smiling but not rejoicing with the parents she allowed her defense team to throw under the bus.

And a little girl's homicide goes unexplained.

Photos of a young mother partying while her two year old daughter is missing didn't faze the jury.  Tats a week later. Nothing. Thirty days (!) before even a missing report is filed.  Eh, it happens.  A creation of a fake nanny by whom the child had been abducted.  Just a white lie.  The actions, lies, and general lack of emotion this young mother, a word I use as loosely as possible in this case, was not enough to convince this jury of even lesser child abuse charges.

We often speak of reasonable doubt.  If there is a shred of reasonable doubt that a person did not commit the crime, they should be found not guilty.  The burden of proof  falls on the prosecution.  Though this may be the greatest system in the world (and I still have to believe that though it is harder at this particular time), it has it's flaws.  Today, reasonable doubt is the flaw that was abused.  A body found in a garbage bag in the swamp with duct tape present says to me murder.  A mother who spends thirty days without notifying anyone that her nearly three year old daughter is missing AND has few enough worries to party  and get tattoos during the time that any other mother would be grieving and\or searching says to me murderer.

Do we need to know how someone was killed in order to know that they were killed?

Caylee Marie Anthony, rest in peace.  Tonight when my daughter and son get home, I will hug them.  I will love them.  And then I'll hug them again for you, for the hugs you should be getting.