Proposed ‘Caylee’s Law’ Is Idiotic

Over 120,000 people have signed a petition calling for a federal law that would make it a felony to fail to notify law enforcement if your child is missing. This is an obvious reaction to the news that Casey Anthony was found not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Anthony.

As Shawna Cohen reported earlier today, the petition was created by Oklahoma woman Michelle Crowder, who said in a written statement: ”I am hoping that this will be made into a federal law so that no other child’s life, disappearance, and/or death is treated in the manner that poor Caylee’s was treated. No child deserves that.”

Because you know what’s a good idea? Responding to an incredibly bizarre incident and rare event by changing the way all states and jurisdictions deal with missing persons cases. Because, who knows, maybe another mother will murder her child in the same way that Casey Anthony probably did and then get away with it because of a similar series of events and identical trial.

As Radley Balko has said:

Here’s a pretty good rule of thumb: If you’re naming a piece of crime legislation after a crime victim, it’s probably a bad law. It means you’re legislating out of anger, or in reaction to public anger over a specific incident. That’s generally not how good policy is made.

 

Precisely. It’s completely reasonable to be upset that some awful lady got away with murder. It’s not reasonable to act like a law such as “Caylee’s Law” is necessary or prudent. We may wish we could control all sinful behavior through legislation and increased lawmaking, but the fact is that Casey Anthony is such an outlier, we would be utter fools to craft legislation in honor of her.

Similar Posts