Casey Anthony - guilty, or not?

[Heart]

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.

[cinderella]

Heart, that is an excellent idea - you should start a thread dedicated to "deeper issues". But, as far as your comment of "can we move beyond this case..." I started this thread specifically for the discussion of 'this case' - to get opinions on whether Casey Anthony was guilty or not, and it still remains the focus of the thread.

That said, I have read your comments with great interest. They are enlightening, and give much food for thought. I welcome your input and any further comments you wish to share with us. But I respectfully request that you not try to change the intended purpose of this thread. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Heart

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.

[cinderella]

...and I'm upset at myself for doing that - there's things to be done...however, I can't tear myself away. The last time I did that, it was decided that Casey would be out in 6 days - how it got to that point, I don't know - I missed that part.

In any case, things keep evolving...now the discussion has turned to where will she go? Can she live safely in society? Is her safety at stake? All I know is right or wrong, sensible or not, there are alot of angry people out there, and it wouldn't surprise me if some unbalanced person does her harm. Where do you suppose she could live, and how, in this country? Some have suggested plastic surgery, a name change, and putting great distance between herself and Florida. But seriously, where in the US could she possibly go - the world, for that matter.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one - speculations, sensible or not, are welcome. I'm just curious what everyone thinks about this.

[scootebaby]

To Mr Moon...thank you for your post. I did glance over the law that Change.org is trying to pass and i did sign it without first studying it further. like so many others i signed it without doing research..my reason was so much knee jerk as in emotional...however after reading ur post and thinking i realize u r absolutely right! There is no way to make that law work. Thank you for eduvating me a little today.

To Cinderella,

i do believe she will have a hard time for awhile...and i do agree her safety is gonna be an issue bc there are people out there who do stupid things. however i think that just like everything else it will die down eventually,and she will be able to resume a somewhat normal life---without having to do anything major to herself. There will always be someone out there that obsesses over her and what she did,but once time has passed or some other horrific crime fills our airways and print she will fall off the radar--unless she does something criminal!

Right now emotions are raw and there are those looking for their 15 sec of fame...in time tho

[princessbelle]

Originally Posted by cinderella

...and I'm upset at myself for doing that - there's things to be done...however, I can't tear myself away. The last time I did that, it was decided that Casey would be out in 6 days - how it got to that point, I don't know - I missed that part.

In any case, things keep evolving...now the discussion has turned to where will she go? Can she live safely in society? Is her safety at stake? All I know is right or wrong, sensible or not, there are alot of angry people out there, and it wouldn't surprise me if some unbalanced person does her harm. Where do you suppose she could live, and how, in this country? Some have suggested plastic surgery, a name change, and putting great distance between herself and Florida. But seriously, where in the US could she possibly go - the world, for that matter.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one - speculations, sensible or not, are welcome. I'm just curious what everyone thinks about this.

I have stopped watching. I've been busy today, but now i'm just getting updates here and on the regular news. It appears though that she may not be safe, and that is worrisome to me. I do think she did this horrible act. I do not however, wish any maleficence to fall upon her due to an irate member of society.

I hope she just disappears out of the sight of the world for now. Karma is evident, and something i believe in, to a fault probably. For me, and I hope for others, making some type of positive from a negative is what I will try to do.

[T D]

I know that here in California, the woman who was dating Scott Peterson, Amber Frey, when he allegedly killed his wife (Laci) and unborn child, has moved to another state and changed her name. It can be done, but it takes time for people to forget. Sometimes a LOT of time.

As for whether or not Casey Anthony is guilty? I don't think anyone has the answer to that question, except Casey Anthony.

Just my thoughts on these two questions.