laurenfelton

Unlike many others, I’m not distraught over the Casey Anthony verdict. I’m sick of how the media sensationalizes stories about “bad” mothers, and on the off chance that the defense’s story was true, I’m glad she’s not facing the death penalty based on the world’s gut feeling about a case with very little evidence beyond hair fibers and an unknown cause of death. This country has sent enough innocent people to death row based on evidence that SEEMED obvious but didn’t tell the whole story.

What I find most absurd about public reaction to this case is the constant comparisons to the O.J. Simpson trial. Their similarities begin and end with the fact that both Simpson and Anthony were acquitted of first-degree murder. Anthony is not Simpson in white, female face—in face, those characteristics alone change everything about this case. The O.J. trial was complicated by his celebrity status, a racist cop, and irrelevant evidence, while Casey’s case was instead underscored by the kind of misogynist slut-shaming that is common in cases involving women (rape cases in particular). The prosecution couldn’t prove that Caylee was murdered—and instead, Casey’s abilities as a mother, her lifestyle, her clothing, and her sexuality were on trial. While there was more than enough evidence, in my opinion, to prove foul play in Caylee’s death, there is no objective proof that she was murdered or how she was murdered, or that Casey played a part in it aside from her subsequent cover-up—which is certainly deplorable, but still not proof of murder.

All in all, I’m glad she was convicted of lying, especially given the implications of her lies, but I’m also glad she was not convicted of first-degree murder. Beyond that, all I can say is that I don’t know for sure whether or not she’s guilty—and although I’m inclined to believe she is, I don’t know this for a fact. There’s nothing more that can be said of her case when we don’t know. On another note, everything about her screams abuse victim and major personality disorder to me, and for that, I sincerely hope she seeks help. While I understand that her obvious lies anger people, I’m bothered by how quick people are to discard the defense’s allegations of childhood molestation simply because they do not like her. That’s all I’ll say about that, because it truly sickens me when people minimize that kind of trauma in such a heartless manner. 

I’m not writing this in support of Casey Anthony, nor am I trying to argue that she was, in fact, a “good” mother. I’m more concerned with the larger implications of this case for the countless innocent victims who have been convicted based on shoddy evidence and for any woman who has ever had her sex life put on trial. As for the public’s reaction to the jurors involved with this case, I’m going to end with a quote from a Facebook friend who very insightfully and succinctly summed up her thoughts in this post: “I have no opinion about the Casey Anthony jurors. I wasn’t one of them.”