Posted on 07/06/2011 6:32:41 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Tuesday, a Florida jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie.
As so often happens in high profile cases, the jury was wrong.
Casey clearly murdered her daughter. Her mom, Cindy, reported that Caylee was missing on July 15, 2008. Casey's cover story was unbelievably ridiculous. When Casey's mom, Cindy, confronted Casey at Casey's boyfriend's apartment, Casey actually claimed that a random baby sitter nobody had ever met had taken Caylee away over a month beforehand.
Cindy called the cops, informing them, "I found my daughter's car today. And it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car." Sure enough, cadaver dogs identified the trunk of Casey's car as a dead body location, and scientists confirmed that a body had decomposed back there. A few months after a jury indicted Casey, police found Caylee's corpse in the woods near Casey's home, duct tape on her head.
The defense did a Johnny Cochrane routine -- they blamed everybody within a 10 mile radius of the murder for the murder. Defense attorney Jose Baez suggested that Casey's dad, George, had sexually abused her during her childhood, without any evidence whatsoever. Baez also claimed that Caylee had drowned in the pool while George was at home, and that George had been involved in dumping the body.
There was no evidence to any of this. It was pure conjecture, a sociopathic response to being caught red-handed. And Casey Anthony is a sociopath: outwardly charming, pathologically lying, indecently self-centered, lacking in shame or guilt, promiscuous, exploitative and irresponsible, and willing to hurt anyone and everyone in order to get her way.
So, why did the jury acquit her? Because the jury system, as currently run, is stupid.
Yes, jury trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution (although only with regard to federal cases). It was originally considered a hallmark of civilized criminal justice because citizens did not want to be subjected to government inquisitions, with the court stacked against them. Juries were supposed to be a bulwark against governmental encroachment.
Nowadays, juries have become a hallmark of our heavily bureaucratized system. Those who have day jobs are eager to avoid serving on juries, mainly because the convoluted rules of procedure and evidence have turned summary trials into week-long events. By and large, only the least offensive -- and not coincidentally, the dumbest -- tend to be selected for juries. As the aphorism goes, the problem with juries is that they are generally composed of the 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty.
The phrase "show trial" now means something different -- it means a trial that is a show. That's precisely what O.J. and Casey Anthony were about. Every juror expects to see Sam Waterston get up and deliver opening remarks, and damned if the court system won't do its best to provide that entertainment. The provision of the Constitution that requires a public trial is now used to ensure that trials become media circuses.
Should we embrace the European inquisitorial system, in which judges ask the questions and come up with the decisions? Should we hire professional jurors?
The answer doesn't lie in abolishing the jury system utterly, but in revamping it completely.
The rationale behind juries is still important, particularly with regard to politically-oriented trials: We don't want judges paid by government to have full authority to condemn those of different political persuasions. And the rationale behind a public trial is also still relevant -- we don't want Star Chambers or clandestine hearings. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
By the same token, however, our current jury system is broken beyond repair. If we are truly to restore justice to our system of justice, we must pursue the best and brightest for service, make it easier for them to serve, make the rules of evidence and procedure more efficient, and allow justice to run more smoothly. Most Americans would be willing to serve on a jury for a day. Few would be willing to do so for a week and even fewer for a month. We need more day-long trials and less month-long trials. We need more justice and less showmanship.
Caylee Anthony, sadly, wasn't just the victim of her mother here. She was the victim of a system that did not mete out justice to her murderer. There will be many more cases like Caylee Anthony until we do something to solve this mess.
Ben Shapiro, meet Nancy Dis-Grace. I’m sure the two of you will get along famously!
Oh, absolutely. Because one jury believed a prosecutor hadn’t proved a case beyond a reasonable doubt, we should replace trial by jury with trial by Ben Shapiro, the Philosopher-King. That’ll assure justice for all.I love it when the first response-post of the thread is also the best post of the thread. Good work, Tax-chick.
--she was acquitted by a jury who were present at the trial and heard the evidence---period.
I want Democrats to decide everything. /sarcasm
Same basics...I wanna play...no responsibility. Scott's in jail...Casey's in a hotel...smirking....
True.
Can you imagine taking away trial by jury and giving that power to the government?
I’m not assessing the competence of these specific jurors. I should have included quote marks instead of the air quotes I used, as I was mocking Ben Shapiro’s assessment of the competence of jurors in general.
Right on! and while we are at it why have a trial? It is time to get a real justice system unencumbered by stupid old rules made up 300 years ago by White Rich Slave Owners. Just look at this mess. Think of all the tax money that could be saved. Hell we could take Yankee Stadium and put that witch in there on live tv. Then we could have an internet vote to burn her or let her go. Just think how much fun that would be. Now that would be real Democracy and provide entertainment.
I worked in a small town law office during my college days and all my beliefs in a fair and impartial system were quickly shattered. I know for a fact that the result of many trials were decided over lunch before the trial ever took place, which isn't too hard when the judge, the prosecuting attorney and the public defender all were old buddies from law school who ate lunch together most days. The entire system is basically a legal mafia, with members of the legal profession watching out for each other.
Thank you very much!
I usually like Ben’s articles, but this is “Quest for Cosmic Justice” stuff, and it’s a pipe dream. He should have recognized this and trashed it instead of hitting “send” to Townhall.
Honor the Jurors. Greatly increase the compensation/tax breaks for Jurors. Greatly increase their living standards and accorded respect while sitting on Juries. At the same time - make it much harder to get out of Jury service.
Anyone who says something like "he/she was too stupid to get out of Jury service" should be regarded as a slope-shouldered idiot.
NO!
It is one of the last bastions of citizen power.
Well said.
Obviously, we should have trial by those that really, really closely follow the story on the news. /s
A recent jury that I was on had a retired military officer, a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, a chef, the wife of a retired cop, a naturalized citizen from Ireland...among others.
I'm curious as to how many folks here ranting about juries have ever served on a jury in a criminal trial.
That's a total pile of crap.
We find skeletons all the time without knowing exactly how the victim died. All that usually is ever proven in such cases is WHO put the skeleton there.
We know that the Anthony She-devil was driving around with her little girl's rotting corpse in the trunk - her mouth and nose taped shut with duct tape.
I suppose the morons amongst us need the video tape, but some of us don't.
There used to be rules as to who could serve on a jury. There are still some rules limiting who may serve but in many instances they are ignored.
The jury of her peers made their decision. The Constitution did not specify that all decisions would be to everyone’s liking.
Move along.
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