Like this:

Okay, after a week of laziness and extreme heat (and watching too many kids to be able to blog effectively), I’m going to throw in my two bits about the recently concluded Casey Anthony case.

Before I continue, let me make it clear that I consider Casey Anthony to be one of the most wretched, pathetic examples of the human race at its worst.  She is a horrid excuse of a human being, let alone a parent.  I have exactly zero sympathy for her and would consider it street justice if I were to read about her public lynching shortly after her release from jail.  And the rest of her family, in aiding and abetting her, isn’t a whole lot better.

That being said, I think the verdict in her case was right and just.

Why?  Because there was no real tangible evidence presented that conclusively linked her to Caylee’s death.  Just a few circumstantial pieces here and there, and a torrent of lies and coverups from Casey and her family.  Enough to make her look bad, enough to perhaps declare her guilty in the court of public opinion.

But not enough to find her guilty of murder in a court of law.  Too much reasonable doubt.

From what evidence I’ve seen, I could just as easily conclude that Caylee died an accidental death, and the family decided to cover it up and Casey decided to party down, being relieved of the terrible burden of being a mother. {insert gross sarcasm here}

Despicable, yes.  But murder?  Not enough.

This wasn’t another OJ Simpson case, which really was a miscarriage of justice.  There the evidence really was there and it was overwhelming, the jury just chose to believe the defense claims of being framed by racist investigators.  This time there just wasn’t enough of a provable chain linking Casey to her daughter’s death.  They couldn’t even conclusively prove the time or cause of Caylee’s death.

Believe me, I’m not trying to stir up any sympathy for Casey Anthony.  Rather, I’m trying to stir up sympathy for our justice system, which all too often gets it wrong but got it right this time, which is in danger of being hijacked by people who want the system changed every time one of these rare cases come up where the possibly, even probably, guilty go free not because of an obscure technicality, but because the prosecution failed to prove it’s case beyond a reasonable doubt.  I’ve even heard suggestions that maybe we should do away with the Constitution’s double jeopardy clause.  Such an idea would be so repugnant, so horrible on so many levels I couldn’t get my mind around it.

The trouble is, cases like these stir up so many emotions that people, in their zeal to see what they think should be justice served, end up coming up with many bad ideas and bad laws whose effects go far beyond what was ever intended, and rarely function as they are originally envisioned.  Which is why I would oppose, in principle, this Caylee’s Law that’s being proposed.  Because as well-intentioned as it may be, I can see some possibly innocent parents mugged by overreaching prosecutors who are unable to secure a murder case, so they throw whatever they can that’s on the books at them.

Sadly enough, I’ve had just enough negative experience with the legal system to discover that it isn’t about finding the truth, or even justice.  All too often, it’s about winning and losing.  Usually at the expense of those that can’t afford top-notch counsel.

Even worse is that I’ve heard there is a law in Florida, and possibly some other states as well, where the courts can order that acquitted defendants pay back the state for incurred legal costs.  If you don’t get screwed at one end, they’ll rape you from another.

So we need to think very hard about if there should be more laws on the books, or just better use of the ones existing, and better investigative work by DA’s offices so they can prove their cases with a reasonable chance of success, rather than harass defendants with flurries of minor charges because they can’t get them for the big ones.

And keep something else in mind.  Casey Anthony, whether she did or didn’t murder her daughter, was no doubt somehow responsible for her death.  As has been pointed out several times, she was by no stretch of the imagination found “innocent”, just “not guilty” due to excessive reasonable doubt.  And sooner or later, she will face the justice that the courts were unable to give her.  Not just in the next life, but likely in this lifetime as well.  People like her sooner or later screw up again somewhere, and the hammer finally falls on them (once again, look at where OJ is these days and how he got there).  Not to mention, she’ll be unable to show her face or use her name in any civilized society for the rest of her life.  She’ll be forever a pariah, an outcast by all decent and semi-decent people.  That alone may be justice enough.

We all grieve at the death of little Caylee, and wish hellfire and brimstone on her irresponsible and cretinous family who lied and covered up her death, and possibly had something to do with it.  But we aren’t doing society any good with knee-jerk responses and laws passed for public opinion and passion.  And even though sometimes I have to hold my nose and gag while saying it, I still believe it’s better that ten guilty persons go free than to let one innocent person hang.

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