CHEFAZ-1319563

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Member Since: 9/2009 Last Seen: 5/16/2012

Criminal Justice Petition: Create Caylee's Law

Seeded on Fri Jul 8, 2011 12:05 PM EDT

Article Source: Criminal Justice Petition

children, florida, law, crime, anthony, courts, us-news, protection, petition, orlando, caylee

Seeded by chefaz-1319563

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This is not how people should have to spend a portion their day; perusing / signing a petition to protect our children but I guess it is what we need to do to let the powers that be know that Americans will not allow sickos to destroy innocent children - be they an unworthy parent or pedophile.

I don't know if this will help by seeding it here to Newsvine but I have to try.

There are a few things that I have noticed over recent years...Crimes against children seem to be on the increase and many of these could have been prevented had the perpetrator been incarcerated instead of being out amongst us. The other thing is that during election campaigns, safety for our children is not even mentioned. WHY??? Why is this not an issue???

Some of you may remember Jessica Lunsford. This was another high profile event in Florida of a missing / murdered child but in her case, it was a monster in the neighborhood that was apprehended in Georgia trying to escape detection. He has since died in prison. In the aftermath, her father Mark Lunsford has done a great deal of campaigning to try and have laws enacted to protect children and families.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Lunsford_Act

After Jessica's murderer was apprehended, a petition was circulated; I printed one and went out and about in my complex to have people sign it. One person did not and it does give pause for wonder.

And so, we as viners read articles and comment and agree and argue. Will you sign a petition to try and have laws enacted to remind would be criminals that there are laws in place to try and protect kids???

Will it save a child??? I don't know...I only know that I will do what ever it takes no matter how insignificant it may seem if it would just help one child.

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Public Discussion (9)

Levi777

I signed it, however I'm thinking this is an emotional knee-jerk reaction that will produce a modicum of change, and eventually fade into regrettable history as new atrocities unfold. Will this fix ANYTHING? I don't think so. Those who wouldn't under the current system notify authorities if their child has gone missing won't do so even if it's a felony. And what's going to happen when the 14 year old girl gets mad at mom and leaves in a huff, spending the night at a friend's house? Would mom face a felony charge if she doesn't call the police?

I understand the need to mandate responsible parenting and reporting, but this is similar to banning guns. Only criminals will have them, and with this, only the irresponsible, who cares about anything or anyone but me types will fail to report, while the 14 year old I mentioned above that gets kidnapped and worse walking back to her mother's house garners a felony charge for Mom, because Mom didn't all the police when her daughter took off to blow off some steam.

2 votes

#1 - Fri Jul 8, 2011 12:51 PM EDT

chefaz-1319563

Hey, Levi. I agree with you to some degree here. The monsters will always be amongst us, unfortunately. What it will do is enact laws that Casey could have been charged with that were not in place. If you watch the video, parents / guardians must stay in contact with children 12 years old and younger, missing children must be reported and the death of a child must be reported in a reasonable amount of time. Thirty one days ain't cuttin' it. Would it have made a difference for Caylee??? Would she still be with us had this been reported in a timely manner??? Probably not but for many reasons, I think this petition and hopefully, new laws are important.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43682599#43682599

1 vote

#1.1 - Fri Jul 8, 2011 1:30 PM EDT

Levi777

I guess the point I'm making is this: First, I admittedly didn't stay up on the story as it seemd a bunch overblown. With my need to find work so immediate, I didn't really care to ooh and ahh and boo and hiss over another very sad scenario. On a side note, I can't help but think about how OJ Simpson beat the rap, and they said it was his money. Now Anthony beat the rap, but did she have money? Also, she couldn't play the race card like OJ's attorneys did. But back to the point(s):

If she reported little Caylee's disappearance right away, would she have been alive still? I'll wager no, because by the time anything was said, I think she was already dead. At any event, even if she didn't unpack her pack of lies, where could Caylee have been? On loan to some pedophile? Unknown? Even if it was immedate, or later, or false reporting, or not, by the time this got the attention of the police, Caylee was already dead.

Now, lets consider the reasons for immediate reporting and delayed reporting. Immediate reporting would happen because your child has gone missing and your remaining brain cells are screaming "DO SOMETHING NOW!!!" Delayed reporting would happen because a) the remaining brain cells are too doped up to care, or notice, or b) the delay is due to guilt.

So, we make it a felony to not report a missing child in 24 hours. Any normal mom would be going nuts tearing up the neighborhood, and on the phone to the police RIGHT NOW and reaching through the phone grabbing the one who answered by the throat saying "FIND MY CHILD NOW OR SO HELP ME!!!!!" But then you have the situation as I described above, where a tweenage girl has a hormonal flare up and runs off for the night. This isn't the first time, and mom is just plain wore out. She doesn't call, because the first five times she did call, she got the runaround and told to wait 24 hours, and call back if she doesn't come home. Of course, she did. Now, one time, she ends up getting kidnapped, raped and killed. Mom waits until the following afternoon to start calling friends. It's evening when she finally succumbs to the growing fear that this is not like the other times. And little missy has been gone for 28 hours, now, since she stormed out right after school. Do we zap mom with a felony charge? Okay, what if mom has a coke habit and a live in boyfriend who beats her? But the scenario with the daughter is the same, and mom's slow to dawn on her reaction happens the same way. What if mom is black? What if she's white? So many different factors come to play, and a DA looking to advance his/her career by making moms, dads, adults, caretakers, etc in such scenarios examples of their prosecutorial prowess will jump at the chance to hold the adult accountable to punishment.

So, in short, Sis, I don't think immediate reporting would have saved Caylee. At best it would have given the police a fresher crime scene. What would have saved little Caylee would have been someone that knew them getting ahold of the mom and doing what it takes to get her cleaned up, turned into a responsible parent, or ELSE. If we want to add legislation, how about we ramp up the penalties for parents that are hideous to their children, or leave them to fend for themselves.

2 votes

#1.2 - Fri Jul 8, 2011 6:39 PM EDT

chefaz-1319563

Hey Bro'.

I'm in agreement with you that immediate reporting would have probably not saved little Caylee. Casey was not a normal mom, obviously. Unfortunately, there are other abnormal parents / guardians out here.

It most definitely would have provided a fresher crime scene for the police.

Possibly, Caylee's body would have been intact, rather than abused (this may not matter to some but it does to me) and recovered long before she was found, thus saving a great deal of manpower and effort. Energies that could have been directed in other needed areas.

We are in sore need for stiffer penalties for monsters. Politicians need to rethink and include this in their campaigns and KEEP THEIR PROMISES to protect our children.

The petition if enacted into law would hopefully provide protection for children by letting their caregivers know negligence / apathy will not be tolerated. Responsibility is more than just a six syllable word. Sentences could / should include community service and parenting skill classes. Much like those who are arrested for DUI's must take classes appropriate to their crime.

Bottom line - what ever has to be done to protect our children needs to happen. I appreciate what you're saying about hormonal, angry teenagers and parents who are at their wit's end - and I'm not even a parent. But - if you watched the video, the petition refers to children 12 and under. The reporting guidelines are not unreasonable.

Much of the country has been spellbound with the "unnaturalness" surrounding the Anthony case. There are two cases that actually have had me even more upset with an even deeper astonishment: One is the Jessica Lunsford case, now past. Seldom a day goes by that I don't think about that little girl and what she must have gone through. I now await an outcome for a dear little boy that was horribly abused beyond comprehension. I Pray for a swift death penalty sentence for the tormentors of Ethan Stacy.

http://www.fox13now.com/news/local/kstu-defense-now-seeks-therapists-records-in-ethan-stacy-murder-case-20110707,0,468043.story?track=rss

http://ethan-stacy.memory-of.com/About.aspx

1 vote

#1.3 - Fri Jul 8, 2011 8:35 PM EDT

Pudd-n-Tain

I remember this case. What has happened? I've not heard anything for some time. There is no news about him here in Utah.

1 vote

#1.4 - Wed Aug 10, 2011 4:24 PM EDT

chefaz-1319563

Hi Pudd-n. It's unfortunate the way this case is being dragged out but here is a recent article with some info. I hope that once this gets going, the media will provide as much coverage for Ethan's case as they did for Caylee.

Are you in Utah??? This link is where I'm getting much of my info on the case.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52271778-78/sloop-preliminary-nathan-evidence.html.csp

And a very big thank you for acting upon your powers of observation in post #3. You may have saved a child that day. :)

#1.5 - Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:00 AM EDT

AZ Hockeymom

It's worth your effort. And your effort is appreciated.

I'm all for the law. I think any law that would help a child is a good.

It does seem that there are more and more crimes against children. But with the efforts of citizens like you, like me, and like so many other newsviners, AND the help of John Walsh, Mr. Lunsford, Mark Klaas and other parents alike...I have to believe if not for the laws today, the punishments would be as they were in the 70's, which was basically nothing. We all must keep pushing and pushing, changing the laws, making new laws, in an effort to protect our children.

Still though, we have these cases out there, the repeat offenders who seem to escape Lady Justice. We have so many offenders who are flying under the radar. It's sad.

1 vote

#2 - Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:57 AM EDT

chefaz-1319563

Thanks, AZ.

From reading your posts all these months and seeing all that you have done for this group, it's obvious what Caylee meant to you. It's what Jessica Lunsford meant to me. Since Jessica's case, I had to try and detach myself from Caylee's case (and some others) but towards the end, found myself getting drawn into this.

One murdered child that I am unable to detach from is Ethan Stacy. I think that Joe Stacy has a much better shot of seeing justice for his boy, Ethan. I hope so. With the proceedings going on now, I am watching and waiting. Tears fall every time I read something about that beautiful boy.

I thank you as well for your efforts in the name of protecting children.

#2.1 - Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:28 PM EDT

Pudd-n-Tain

Yes, you are soooooo right! It is a shame that children can't have the freedom to enjoy a park or bike ride unless accompanied by an adult. I even drop and pick-up the 1st grader's to 12th grade grandkids to and from school rather than let them ride the bus home. Children of all ages are at risk. There are so many predators waiting and watchng our kids.

I jotted down a licence plate numbers of a man parked by a school once. I watched him a long time and noticed he never picked up anyone, but just sat there looking around at the children passing by on their way home. So, I called police and gave him the number, told the officer what I observed, even a little embarrassed because I didn't want an innocent person to be in trouble. But, I figured, if it's nothing then no harm done. But if not...that's good, too.

Turns out, I was right-on! The police officer contacted me to let me know to not hesitate calling again if I spot this man around the school. He was a registered sex offender and his name popped-up on the net. He had no reason to be near this school. I let a friend know to keep on the watch for the guy as she lives across from the school and her picture window faces the front.

We never know who's lurking around to cause harm. Here in the U.S., in many cities, life is pretty peaceful. So, we need to remain alert.

1 vote

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