It doesn't matter to me what verdict the jury for Casey Anthony returned.
She is guilty.
In this country, the prosecution has to work really hard to prove somebody's guilt. I thought they did a solid job of providing evidence and connecting the dots. Their theory made sense: Casey wanted to party, she had a child that prevented the lifestyle she wanted from coming easily, and the lies she told and the means she used to make that lifestyle possible (leaving her with just about anyone and/or drugging her) would shortly be coming to an end because Caylee was beginning to talk.
The jury didn't agree.
We will never know what Casey did all day while she was away from home, at a job that never existed. We won't know why Cindy and George didn't ask more questions or expect more from Casey. We won't learn about Caylee's last moments of life. We won't get to find out just what made Casey snap that day, or if she really believes the lies she tells.
But what I do know is, Casey is now friendless and without a family. I think she will have a very tough time enjoying her freedom because who could truly love or trust her? She screwed over her friends, threw her family under the bus and damaged their character, and even hurt a complete stranger (go get her, Zenaida...) by accusing her of the unthinkable.
And, in my opinion, took the life of a beautiful, innocent child.
As her defense team gathered around her, hugging her and crying, I wondered if these people would now be her friends and family. Would you let her babysit your kids?
I admit, when the verdict was read, I got teary. I love the truth. And I can't stand it when the truth doesn't prevail. And I love justice. I really hoped for justice for Caylee. Not the death penalty, but jail time. Instead, someone got away with murder, and Thursday, that person will likely become a free -and wealthy- person who enjoys all the same liberties as you and I do. Fair?
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Moving On!
So, enough whining. A new day puts great perspective on everything, right? And buying a new dress for a friend's wedding in a few weeks, and getting it for a whopping $51 and free shipping doesn't hurt, either, does it? New day, new dress, new outlook. Huzzah!
Have you been keeping up with the Casey Anthony trial? You know I've been waiting for this for almost three years. I follow a few cases religiously...can't help it. The West Memphis Three tragedy is one I have followed nearly half my life! The Ryan Widmer case. Missing Kyron Horman...almost a whole year now. And the Anthony case.
I am so glad that it is finally being tried. I'm not one of these blood-lusting people who are looking for a death sentence for Casey. I am one who prefers that someone who is guilty serves a life sentence behind bars, no parole. That is a far greater punishment than death.
For someone like Casey, who prided herself on her looks, promiscuity, attention from men, shopping, dancing, partying...being in the clink is like torture.
I do think she killed her daughter and I always have. I never believed in the Zanny the Nanny person she made up...it doesn't make any sense. I don't think that George Anthony sexually abused Casey at all.
What I think is...Casey is a mixed-up girl who was extremely, painfully jealous of her daughter. Everyone loves Caylee. Especially Cindy and George.
Whatever the big blow up the night before Caylee disappeared made Casey snap. I am so sure of it. I think she'd entertained thoughts of what life without Caylee would be like, but felt guilty about it. Not killing her, but maybe leaving her with Cindy and George. But then she'd feel guilty, and then she'd think about how it would look, and how much Cindy would enjoy being with Caylee all the time, and that made Casey even more jealous. And also...how would Casey explain it to anyone? I mean, what kind of mother gives up her child to her parents, right? So that she could go party and do whatever?
(I think a smart, young mother might do that if she did not feel equipped to handle the responsibility. I think someone who knows her limitations and abilities might make that very sound decision for the benefit of the child.)
I imagine that Casey flipped out after that arguement and killed Caylee. I can't say exactly how it happened...accidental overdose of chloroform, as has been speculated about? Intentional overdose of it? Angry rage? I don't know. But I do know that she did it, it was quick, and she went about her business of romancing her latest boyfriend. And from the photos that followed over the next month, Casey never looked back.
If Caylee was not with a sitter all the time when Casey was out and about all day and night - and we know she was not and that no sitter existed - who was she with? And, if Casey wasn't at work all day every day - and we know she was not, because she didn't have a job - then what was she doing away from the house each day when she was pretending to work?
I don't know how many of the questions we'll get answered during the course of this trial, but I do believe that the jury will find Casey guilty of murder...
Have you been keeping up with the Casey Anthony trial? You know I've been waiting for this for almost three years. I follow a few cases religiously...can't help it. The West Memphis Three tragedy is one I have followed nearly half my life! The Ryan Widmer case. Missing Kyron Horman...almost a whole year now. And the Anthony case.
I am so glad that it is finally being tried. I'm not one of these blood-lusting people who are looking for a death sentence for Casey. I am one who prefers that someone who is guilty serves a life sentence behind bars, no parole. That is a far greater punishment than death.
For someone like Casey, who prided herself on her looks, promiscuity, attention from men, shopping, dancing, partying...being in the clink is like torture.
I do think she killed her daughter and I always have. I never believed in the Zanny the Nanny person she made up...it doesn't make any sense. I don't think that George Anthony sexually abused Casey at all.
What I think is...Casey is a mixed-up girl who was extremely, painfully jealous of her daughter. Everyone loves Caylee. Especially Cindy and George.
Whatever the big blow up the night before Caylee disappeared made Casey snap. I am so sure of it. I think she'd entertained thoughts of what life without Caylee would be like, but felt guilty about it. Not killing her, but maybe leaving her with Cindy and George. But then she'd feel guilty, and then she'd think about how it would look, and how much Cindy would enjoy being with Caylee all the time, and that made Casey even more jealous. And also...how would Casey explain it to anyone? I mean, what kind of mother gives up her child to her parents, right? So that she could go party and do whatever?
(I think a smart, young mother might do that if she did not feel equipped to handle the responsibility. I think someone who knows her limitations and abilities might make that very sound decision for the benefit of the child.)
I imagine that Casey flipped out after that arguement and killed Caylee. I can't say exactly how it happened...accidental overdose of chloroform, as has been speculated about? Intentional overdose of it? Angry rage? I don't know. But I do know that she did it, it was quick, and she went about her business of romancing her latest boyfriend. And from the photos that followed over the next month, Casey never looked back.
If Caylee was not with a sitter all the time when Casey was out and about all day and night - and we know she was not and that no sitter existed - who was she with? And, if Casey wasn't at work all day every day - and we know she was not, because she didn't have a job - then what was she doing away from the house each day when she was pretending to work?
I don't know how many of the questions we'll get answered during the course of this trial, but I do believe that the jury will find Casey guilty of murder...
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
This is Why...
The crimes of Phillip Garrido are absolutely horriffic, and I have a feeling that we ain't seen nothing yet.
In case you haven't been in tune to what this "person" has been up to, Phillip Garrido is a convicted sex offender who abducted and brutally raped Katie Hall in the seventies. He raped Hall while he was married to Christine Murphy, who said that when Garrido was convicted, she was finally able to leave that marriage. Murphy says that Garrido abused her throughout their relationship...in fact Garrido dug a safety pin through her face when she once tried to escape.
Even though he was incarcerated and sentenced to fifty years for his crimes, Garrido was released after only eleven. For what...good behavior? Of course - there are no women or children to rape in jail!
The details of what Garrido did next are spotty. But we do know one thing for sure...he kidnapped Jaycee Dugard, who was only eleven years old, while she was on her way to school. He and his wife Nancy kept Jaycee in squalor in a tented, junk-filled complex behind their home. This area was mostly hidden from view. He raped Jaycee repeatedly which resulted in her bearing two daughters, now ages 15 and 11. These children were also kept hidden within the complex all of these years.
Until last Wednesday. Perhaps Garrido was starting to fall apart or feel remorse, because he took Nancy, Jaycee (who Garrido called Alissa), and her two daughters to the police station for his parole meeting. At some point during the meeting, Jaycee spoke up, telling police her true identity.
Garrido may have committed some other crimes between the time of his early release from prison for the Hall rape and when he abducted Jaycee Duggard. There are reports of missing women and bone fragments and things being uncovered right now, all from areas where Garrido worked or had access to.
Obviously, Garrido is... what is the term? Evil personified? Not human? Dangerous? A monster?
That may be true. But what can we say of our legal system? Concerned neighbors called the police. They did! They're all over the news, saying they called, they reported seeing young girls in this private yard, that Garrido was a freak, they reported the tents, complained and what happened?
Nothing.
The police have gone on record apologizing, saying that they now realize that they could have done something more to end this situation years ago if they'd followed through on these reports.
But my question is this - WHY was Garrido out of jail in the first place? He beat and raped Katie Hall in a storage shed and she is certain that he was going to kill her. He brutally assaulted his first wife. It was on the books. He admitted in testimony to having "strong urges to rape." He was IN JAIL, which is where pieces of garbage like Garrido should be forever and ever, Amen! Why was he freed?
And more, what message do we send to women and children when predators get a smack on the hand - a few years in jail - and then are free to go out and continue being pervs? I just said this to a co-worker who I respect, who nonchanlantly replied, "Well, some time in jail is better than nothing." NO! Even my colleague, an educated woman with a good head on her shoulders, has been brainwashed!
Because really, isn't society saying, "We don't care. It's just your body. You've been raped...big deal. Get over it. It's just sex. It happens. What? You can still walk. You're not dead. What are you crying about?"
This is why women don't tell when rape or assault happens. IF you get someone to listen to you, you still face the humiliation associated with the process of reporting and prosecuting. IF you're lucky enough to get a conviction, the person who harmed you isn't going to serve any real sentence.
A real sentence for sex offenders is life in prison, because a prison is exactly what these raping pedofile pervert pieces of crap have built for every single victim they carefully select. Years of counseling, of coping, of being messed up inside and of never, never, never getting to feel completely normal ever again.
Shasta Groening, Shawn Hornbeck, Elisabeth Fritzl, Elizabeth Smart and Natascha Kampusch have all suffered at the hands of men who others identified years before as "just not right." In fact, many of the perpetrators were convicted for previous crimes before abducting and assaulting these children. So what will it take to get real laws passed that protect the innocent? When will we start sending the message to people that just because you're not physically strong enough, you can still be safe and protected?
I can't wait until Garrido is convicted and put away for good - this is high profile enough that finally, justice will be served. But more, I can't wait for Jaycee and her daughters to get as close to normal as they possibly can. It's going to take some time. It's going to take a lot of time...
In case you haven't been in tune to what this "person" has been up to, Phillip Garrido is a convicted sex offender who abducted and brutally raped Katie Hall in the seventies. He raped Hall while he was married to Christine Murphy, who said that when Garrido was convicted, she was finally able to leave that marriage. Murphy says that Garrido abused her throughout their relationship...in fact Garrido dug a safety pin through her face when she once tried to escape.
Even though he was incarcerated and sentenced to fifty years for his crimes, Garrido was released after only eleven. For what...good behavior? Of course - there are no women or children to rape in jail!
The details of what Garrido did next are spotty. But we do know one thing for sure...he kidnapped Jaycee Dugard, who was only eleven years old, while she was on her way to school. He and his wife Nancy kept Jaycee in squalor in a tented, junk-filled complex behind their home. This area was mostly hidden from view. He raped Jaycee repeatedly which resulted in her bearing two daughters, now ages 15 and 11. These children were also kept hidden within the complex all of these years.
Until last Wednesday. Perhaps Garrido was starting to fall apart or feel remorse, because he took Nancy, Jaycee (who Garrido called Alissa), and her two daughters to the police station for his parole meeting. At some point during the meeting, Jaycee spoke up, telling police her true identity.
Garrido may have committed some other crimes between the time of his early release from prison for the Hall rape and when he abducted Jaycee Duggard. There are reports of missing women and bone fragments and things being uncovered right now, all from areas where Garrido worked or had access to.
Obviously, Garrido is... what is the term? Evil personified? Not human? Dangerous? A monster?
That may be true. But what can we say of our legal system? Concerned neighbors called the police. They did! They're all over the news, saying they called, they reported seeing young girls in this private yard, that Garrido was a freak, they reported the tents, complained and what happened?
Nothing.
The police have gone on record apologizing, saying that they now realize that they could have done something more to end this situation years ago if they'd followed through on these reports.
But my question is this - WHY was Garrido out of jail in the first place? He beat and raped Katie Hall in a storage shed and she is certain that he was going to kill her. He brutally assaulted his first wife. It was on the books. He admitted in testimony to having "strong urges to rape." He was IN JAIL, which is where pieces of garbage like Garrido should be forever and ever, Amen! Why was he freed?
And more, what message do we send to women and children when predators get a smack on the hand - a few years in jail - and then are free to go out and continue being pervs? I just said this to a co-worker who I respect, who nonchanlantly replied, "Well, some time in jail is better than nothing." NO! Even my colleague, an educated woman with a good head on her shoulders, has been brainwashed!
Because really, isn't society saying, "We don't care. It's just your body. You've been raped...big deal. Get over it. It's just sex. It happens. What? You can still walk. You're not dead. What are you crying about?"
This is why women don't tell when rape or assault happens. IF you get someone to listen to you, you still face the humiliation associated with the process of reporting and prosecuting. IF you're lucky enough to get a conviction, the person who harmed you isn't going to serve any real sentence.
A real sentence for sex offenders is life in prison, because a prison is exactly what these raping pedofile pervert pieces of crap have built for every single victim they carefully select. Years of counseling, of coping, of being messed up inside and of never, never, never getting to feel completely normal ever again.
Shasta Groening, Shawn Hornbeck, Elisabeth Fritzl, Elizabeth Smart and Natascha Kampusch have all suffered at the hands of men who others identified years before as "just not right." In fact, many of the perpetrators were convicted for previous crimes before abducting and assaulting these children. So what will it take to get real laws passed that protect the innocent? When will we start sending the message to people that just because you're not physically strong enough, you can still be safe and protected?
I can't wait until Garrido is convicted and put away for good - this is high profile enough that finally, justice will be served. But more, I can't wait for Jaycee and her daughters to get as close to normal as they possibly can. It's going to take some time. It's going to take a lot of time...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Why?
Usually, I like to keep things somewhat light here, but today...I'm disappointed. And when I am deeply hurt, my first response is to get angry. (It's a character flaw.)
There is a little girl, Esme Kenney, who attended my parents congregation. It's not like our families are friends or anything. But my Mom tells me that she remembers this girl, attending church with her folks regularly, and that she and her Mom even lit the Chalice together at the beginning of a service last year.
Esme, a 13 year old student at the School for Creative and Performing Arts, did nothing more than go for a jog on Saturday. It was gorgeous outside.
And somehow, a man who has no business being anywhere outside of a cage (or a firey pit in Hell), assaulted Esme - strangling her to death, "attempting to sexually abuse her" (still not sure what that means - an attempt is abuse, yes?) and then setting her body on fire. It is absolutely absurd to type that. Because, I just can't imagine.
Esme's parents reported her missing right away - they expected her to return in a half hour and when she didn't, they called the Police. I know that you hear that the Police usually make people wait 24 hours or so before reporting someone as a missing person, but maybe it's different with children, because the cops started looking right away.
They found Anthony Kirkland sleeping in the woods and he had Esme's iPod and her watch in his pocket. And then they found her body nearby. Oh, I know...we can't convict him already, right? Innocent until proven guilty?
I might agree with you if he hadn't already served a 16 year sentence for doing the exact same, f-ing thing in 1989.
If he hadn't recently attacked a person, stabbing him with scissors.
If he hadn't recently solicited sex from a 13 year old.
If he hadn't threatened to murder his own 18 month old child.
(And interestingly enough, two other women's remains have been found in the woods, burnt, with no DNA evidence to explain how this could have happened. But Kirkland was out of jail during those crimes.)
So...am I angry with Kirkland? Well, how do you feel about him right now? All I know is, he must be stopped.
But if you're counting on our justice system to stop him through incarceration, forget it. He got busted for soliciting sex from the 13 year old and was released to a halfway house. He got into a fight at the halfway house so they turned him out. In fact, the Police were called to that fight.
Did they contact his parole officer? Not for several days. Don't you think fighting with other residence of a halfway house would constitute a violation of parole? As in...instant arrest? I guess not if the other resident doesn't press charges.
So they turned him out. That was February 27. And Saturday, he did what apparently he can't help but do...
Destroy lives.
Forgive? I struggle with what that means. Rehabilitation? Don't always believe in it, much to my retired-social-worker-Mom's dismay. This all makes me feel sick to my stomach. A feeling that's sour and keeps me from thinking clearly about what should come next.
People fight wars over politics and religion and haggle over oil and argue about money. But this wasn't some violent act motivated by any "real" cause. This was a meaningless, vicious attack. On a girl who loved music. She was a talented. A good Unitarian. She dug her parents. Everyone says she was special.
Most importantly, she was just an innocent kid who didn't do anything to anyone.
She went for a jog. In the sunshine.
Because it's almost spring and apparently, no one can resist being in the presence of something beautiful and untouched.
There is a little girl, Esme Kenney, who attended my parents congregation. It's not like our families are friends or anything. But my Mom tells me that she remembers this girl, attending church with her folks regularly, and that she and her Mom even lit the Chalice together at the beginning of a service last year.
Esme, a 13 year old student at the School for Creative and Performing Arts, did nothing more than go for a jog on Saturday. It was gorgeous outside.
And somehow, a man who has no business being anywhere outside of a cage (or a firey pit in Hell), assaulted Esme - strangling her to death, "attempting to sexually abuse her" (still not sure what that means - an attempt is abuse, yes?) and then setting her body on fire. It is absolutely absurd to type that. Because, I just can't imagine.
Esme's parents reported her missing right away - they expected her to return in a half hour and when she didn't, they called the Police. I know that you hear that the Police usually make people wait 24 hours or so before reporting someone as a missing person, but maybe it's different with children, because the cops started looking right away.
They found Anthony Kirkland sleeping in the woods and he had Esme's iPod and her watch in his pocket. And then they found her body nearby. Oh, I know...we can't convict him already, right? Innocent until proven guilty?
I might agree with you if he hadn't already served a 16 year sentence for doing the exact same, f-ing thing in 1989.
If he hadn't recently attacked a person, stabbing him with scissors.
If he hadn't recently solicited sex from a 13 year old.
If he hadn't threatened to murder his own 18 month old child.
(And interestingly enough, two other women's remains have been found in the woods, burnt, with no DNA evidence to explain how this could have happened. But Kirkland was out of jail during those crimes.)
So...am I angry with Kirkland? Well, how do you feel about him right now? All I know is, he must be stopped.
But if you're counting on our justice system to stop him through incarceration, forget it. He got busted for soliciting sex from the 13 year old and was released to a halfway house. He got into a fight at the halfway house so they turned him out. In fact, the Police were called to that fight.
Did they contact his parole officer? Not for several days. Don't you think fighting with other residence of a halfway house would constitute a violation of parole? As in...instant arrest? I guess not if the other resident doesn't press charges.
So they turned him out. That was February 27. And Saturday, he did what apparently he can't help but do...
Destroy lives.
Forgive? I struggle with what that means. Rehabilitation? Don't always believe in it, much to my retired-social-worker-Mom's dismay. This all makes me feel sick to my stomach. A feeling that's sour and keeps me from thinking clearly about what should come next.
People fight wars over politics and religion and haggle over oil and argue about money. But this wasn't some violent act motivated by any "real" cause. This was a meaningless, vicious attack. On a girl who loved music. She was a talented. A good Unitarian. She dug her parents. Everyone says she was special.
Most importantly, she was just an innocent kid who didn't do anything to anyone.
She went for a jog. In the sunshine.
Because it's almost spring and apparently, no one can resist being in the presence of something beautiful and untouched.
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