“Caylee’s Law” lacks focus, does not address problems of negligence

By Nick Block
Staff Writer

The recent Florida vs. Casey Anthony verdict has resulted in numerous demands for state laws that prevent parental negligence. These laws place strict requirements on families and law enforcement in cases involving missing or murdered children.

Despite the noble goals of legislators, the laws have too narrow of a focus and are not effective ways to fix problems within the justice system.

Casey Anthony was arrested for the alleged murder of her daughter, Caylee, without a sufficient amount of evidence to convict her. Despite the fact that she did not take action on her daughter’s disappearance for 31 days, she was acquitted by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida of first degree murder.

Due to the media’s coverage of the trial and the emotional nature of the case, sixteen states have proposed “Caylee’s Law” in order to hold parents accountable for missing children.

Proposed state laws arbitrarily stipulate that parents have 24 hours to report a missing child and one hour to report a child-victim of murder under the threat of misdemeanor or possible felony charges. These arbitrary regulations for murdered and missing children place an unreasonable burden on families and law enforcement.

If the law states that if a parent doesn’t report a murder within an hour he or she will face jail time, then law enforcement will have to go through costly processes to prove exact time of death.

According to the National Crime Information Center, the time of death can only be recorded with an accuracy of, at minimum, three hours; the one hour rule doesn’t hold ground.

For the past 10 years, according to the FBI, the infanticide rate has remained at around 55% of all reported child murders. The reality is that laws against murder exist, yet murder still occurs; parents who murder their children would not be dissuaded by the provisions in this law, which will end up inconveniencing innocent, grieving parents.

Harsh punishments for crimes do generally deter criminals, but in this case, the punishments are not logical.

The proposed laws likewise violate the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Mandated self-reporting of a missing or dead child constitutes an acquisition of evidence without a warrant. Furthermore, using the reaction time of parents as evidence holds them to unfair standards of judgement.

The law is not as effective as it could be. The law has been motivated more by anger than by a desire to fix the system. Instead of establishing arbitrary rules for parents and attempting to change the justice system, because of the actions of one individual, the system that has worked for 200 years should be preserved.