I'm surprised only one Zenaida Gonzalex surfaced...
 

...that's not an uncommon Hispanic name. Maybe she was the only one in the vacinity, but still, many Zenaida Gonzlez' will be stigmatized by this, I think.

A different perspective on "Caylee's Law:" I worked with a survivor of horrific intimate partner violence whose husband suffocated their 2-month old under a mattress and forced the mother to bury the child. Because they were poor immigrants the authorities didn't know or care about what was happening in this family. When the mother was finally able to flee the house in which she had been literally imprisoned and hop a bus to escape, she was so traumatized, she could barely speak. Eventually, with help, she alerted authorities who arrested her husband.

How do you think Casey's Law would affect this mother?

(And I hope no one thinks that prosecutors wouldn't use such a law against a poor battered immigrant victim of domestic violence -- because I can assure you they would. There are hundreds of such victims imprisoned all across the U.S. right now).

Heart

now i know why the sky is so blue and the summer is so hot and your legs are so white!

This is just horrific, Heart. Thank you for sharing as this scenario is one that needs to be addressed before implementing such a law.

Absolutely, yes. It seems like it could certainly be written to address a situation in which the parent feared for their life or safety and still address the "Casey situation" in which she was clearly just partying on and having fun.

Now THAT'S what I call professionalism ...
 

http://www.wesh.com/2011/0706/28459082_240X310.jpg

Yup, that's kinda how a lot of people feel .... like we've been given a huge fuck you.

George and Cindy had their lawyer prepare a statement for the press, which has just been released, saying:
"The family may never know what happened to Caylee Marie Anthony. They now have closure for this chapter of their life. They will now begin the long process of rebuilding their lives. Despite the baseless defense chosen by Casey Anthony, the family believes that the jury made a fair decision based on the evidence presented, the testimony presented, the scientific information presented, and the rules that they were given by the Honorable Judge Perry to guide them."



CLOSURE?

to con't a different perspective
 

Whenever I hear/read about making parents more responsible/accountable, I consider how we live in one of the most family UNfriendly countries in the world, (so-called "family values," notwithstanding). With no universal child-care, afterschool or health care, no meaningful paid maternity/paternity leave, ever-shrinking access to free family planning and mental health care, not to mention lack of affordable housing and livable wages in many sectors, it's a wonder most parents do as well as they do.

This has nothing to do with this awful case, per se, but if we had these things in place, as many other devloped countries do, it would be a heck of a lot easier to weed out the truly pathological parent from the over-stressed, under-resourced parent.

But these issues are complex, and require long-term solutions. It's easier to rant about a head-line grabbing case, whipped into a frenzy by the Nancy Graces of the tabloid media, and push through rightous and emotional legislation that may hurt innocent parents and their children.*

Heart

*not personal to anyone here, just my viewpoint.

Anyone else notice that the web /newspapers don't show her sobbing; they show her laughing or smirking.

I think justice failed here, laws and proceedures nonwithstanding. I hope guilt eats her from inside the rest of her days (but I doubt it). She'll have more money than Job by the following Monday.

guess I'm on some kinda roll
 

Here we go:

http://news.yahoo.com/brothers-3-4-f...002109465.html

These children went missing, mother had police contact, told them what she knew, and the children were discovered -- murdered, apparently by her abusive boyfriend, who had a long history of violence. He's been arrested.
While this mother could not be charged under Caylee's Law, as she DID contact authorities, how many will blame her anyway -- for being involved with an abuser/criminal?

In the 1980s Hedda Nussbaum's adopted daugher was killed by her abusive husband Joel Steinburg. They were both arrested, he for murder, she for neglect. She turned state's evidence and was granted immunity. There was a huge national outcry against her even though he had permanantly re-arranged her face, (I mean this literally -- she looked nothing like she did before she met him), tortured and terrified her and the child for years. He was convicted of manslaughter and receivedof 8-25. She had to go into hiding because of the public's rage against her for "allowing" it to happen.

My point? One of our favorite past-times in this country is blaming mothers.
I'll lay bets that most of you can name five killer mothers off the top of your heads. Now try and name five killer fathers. (Father's are ten times more likely to be responsible for the death of a child.)

In another case in NH, a mother begged and pleaded with authorities to find her children who did not return on time from court-ordered visitation. The police did nothing, sending the mother to family court which took days. In the meantime, the kids were killed by her ex. Caylee's Law is intended to punish bad parents (especially bad mothers), but what about systems such as police, child welfare, courts, that neglect the needs of families, the fears of violence survivors, enact racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, and homophobic biases, and hold mothers and fathers to vastly different standards?

Seriously. Can we move beyond this case and get to some of the deeper issues?*

Heart

*I don't mean anyone here personally, I just mean the discourse in general.

unpopular post im sure and random as usual
 

Of course the TVs and websites and newspapers are gonna ONLY show her laughing and smirking. The general public wouldnt want it any other way. I know im one of the outsiders where this is concerned,but as i was telling Jo last night...there ARE ppl out there that support Casey(and have from the beginning) and they are posting and commenting and interviewing but THEY dont get any media time whatso ever bc that would take attention off of the media circus surrounding all of this.

And i dont mean this too any particular person in here,more a general /observation from me,but this has been going on for over 3 yrs..Remember she was last seen on JUNE 16th 2008--we are now in July 2011...where were the porch lights,the support,the ppl trying to get laws passed then? was the public waiting to see if she would get put to death? would that have changed things? would the porch lights not be on now? would there not be a petition for Caylees Law?

My point is this--after the initial media crush there was VERY little about this in the news or on the lips of ppl. Im truly curious as to the why.

oh and something that came to me last night--bc im known to look at different scenarios/possibilities--George Anthony was a retired HOMICIDE detective...he would know(or at the very least have some knowledge of procedure) what would really be needed to get a conviction,and knew it would never be found....so could he have been more involved? could Caylees reaction be to him "throwing" her under the bus--on top of any other crime perpetrated upon her in her life by him? I personally feel she did not act alone in this.

As someone said we will NEVER know all the facts surrounding this case,and altho i understand the emotion response i also know that things can be misconstrued all the time--and does, and people pay the price.


just my thoughts at the moment!

Change starts will the little people
 

Please sign this petition and share on your FB pages and twitter accounts:

http://news.change.org/stories/more-...s-law-campaign

They have over 370K signatures already and need more for Caylee's Law.

Whether you agree with the verdict or not - no child should go missing and unreported like this again.

thanks NJ signed!

and agreed...no matter personal thoughts this bill should be signed,and hopefully it will get passed!

Yes, very complex and right now the pittiful few and under-funded services in the US are under attack so that a very few can continue to pay less in taxes that support these services than the many.

When will the US get the priorities in line with needs and the things that can make a difference in child rearing and parent support? Being able to identify pathological parents is vital to stopping these kinds of things from happening.

There are counties right now that are cutting the school week to 4 days- and the US is falling below in education around the world.

I also am having trouble with the "mother blame" that goes on. No, I do not see the verdicts here as just at all and I can't even watch video of this little girl- haven't been able to since the start of this case. But, so much of what promotes these kinds of horrible actions in our country just never seem to get addressed.

Thank you Heart!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You beat me to the punch. I truly sincerely worry when folks run about and sign on-line petitions for laws they haven't even read. GREAT care must be taken in how these laws are written so there are no unintended consequences. This is pure reaction and is not really going to help. Considered action makes far more sense.

----------
I still don't understand why folks think she deserved the death penalty when there are no facts as to who killed the child, how the child was killed and why it happened. Facts are needed in our system, not conjecture and emotion. Justice is never served when emotion and vigilanteism are disguised as fact.

edited to add: part of me wishes Casey would sue Nancy Grace for defamation, libel and slander. I hate Nancy Grace and all the pundits like her.....they do way more harm than good....