On “Time” magazine’s website there was an interesting article written by Maia Szalavitz on the law many states are considering adopting in response to the Casey Anthony trial.
Szalavitz writes:
“With Casey Anthony having been found not guilty of the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, outraged Americans are seeking other routes to justice and hoping to prevent similar cases.
About half a million people have already signed an online petition calling for a federal law — Caylee's Law — to make it a felony if parents fail to report the death of a child within an hour, or fail to report a missing child within a day. Legislators in at least five states, including Florida where Anthony was tried, are working on introducing similar bills.
But is this really a good idea? Such legislation, introduced in the wake of shocking crimes, is notorious for having unintended negative consequences, as embodied in the law school cliché, "hard cases make bad law."
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/11/cayleys-law-crime-fighter-or-more-grief-for-mourning-parents-and-troubled-teens/#ixzz1RuQOvrrh
While I agree that there is the possibility that rushing into writing a law due to a recent incident can have unintended consequences, I think Caylee’s Law or a similar law is something that is desperately needed in our country.
Szalavitz says that there are plenty of situations that could arise that would put innocent parents and guardians in jail for violating the Law. Specifically she says that if a child were to drown in a swimming pool, as Casey Anthony’s defense team claimed, that an hour could easily pass while a parent grieves over the death of their child. I disagree.
An hour is a very long time when you really stop to think about it. Sure, an hour can pass quickly when you are working on a task but when you are simply sitting especially with something displeasing or unpleasant is happening an hour can drag on. If your child were to drown in a pool, your first response should be to get the phone and dial 911 and then work on CPR. I have taken CPR and first aid classes and they all say that the few seconds it will take to grab a phone, dial 911, and put it on speaker while you attempt CPR will not make a big difference. The most important thing you can do when someone has drowned is getting them flat on their back on a solid surface and call 911 to get professionals to the scene.
The law could easily be written to have clauses where if a person at the scene informs emergency responders of the situation within that hour that they are not violating the law. The whole intent behind the law is to keep situations like what happened with Casey Anthony from happening again. Whether you believe that Casey Anthony is guilt or innocent, believe the jury or not, there should be a way to hold parents and guardians responsible for keeping their children safe.
While I agree that there is the possibility that rushing into writing a law due to a recent incident can have unintended consequences, I think Caylee’s Law or a similar law is something that is desperately needed in our country.
Szalavitz says that there are plenty of situations that could arise that would put innocent parents and guardians in jail for violating the Law. Specifically she says that if a child were to drown in a swimming pool, as Casey Anthony’s defense team claimed, that an hour could easily pass while a parent grieves over the death of their child. I disagree.
An hour is a very long time when you really stop to think about it. Sure, an hour can pass quickly when you are working on a task but when you are simply sitting especially with something displeasing or unpleasant is happening an hour can drag on. If your child were to drown in a pool, your first response should be to get the phone and dial 911 and then work on CPR. I have taken CPR and first aid classes and they all say that the few seconds it will take to grab a phone, dial 911, and put it on speaker while you attempt CPR will not make a big difference. The most important thing you can do when someone has drowned is getting them flat on their back on a solid surface and call 911 to get professionals to the scene.
The law could easily be written to have clauses where if a person at the scene informs emergency responders of the situation within that hour that they are not violating the law. The whole intent behind the law is to keep situations like what happened with Casey Anthony from happening again. Whether you believe that Casey Anthony is guilt or innocent, believe the jury or not, there should be a way to hold parents and guardians responsible for keeping their children safe.
I have been a nanny for over 11 years. I have had 2 boys that I am responsible for not only during evening out for the parents, but over entire weekends and all day every day during the summer months. There is not a situation that I have encountered or could possible imagine that could keep me from informing the police or emergency services of an accident. To argue that there is such a situation is absolutely ridiculous.
If you are in a car accident, you must call the police and emergency responders or you could be charged with a crime. You could face a fine, loosing your license, or even jail time. However, if you don’t report an accident has occurred and your child is injured or dead we’re suppose to let you get away with that? No accountability? That is why Caylee’s Law is so desperately needed.
Szalavitz also goes on to say that the requirement to report a missing child if they have been missing for more than a day would create too much work for the already overwhelmed police system. This doesn’t actually change any current laws. Currently, you cannot report a person missing unless they have been gone for at least 24 hours. So, parents reporting their child missing are not “adding” to anything. Caylee’s Law would simply hold parents accountable so that they will report their child missing.
The article claims that there could be many false alarms with reporting a teenager missing after only a day, or that people with custody problems could have miscommunications that would cause a false alarm. First off, if there is a custody problem the two sides will have either a court order or another agreement on who gets the child. If one party doesn’t give the child back when the agreement says to, than that would be cause to notify the police all on its own, regardless of Caylee’s Law.
Secondly, if a teenager sneaks out of the house at night, you would have to wait 24 hours to report them missing anyway. Even as a teenager, I could not imagine an excuse a teenager could have for not notifying their parents of their location within a 24-hour period.
While the Law would have to be written carefully to avoid unintended results, that is the case of all laws. Just because people are signing petitions to get a law passed doesn’t mean that the law will be rushed into the books. There is a long process that has to be followed for all laws and many governing bodies and people who would need to read, edit, and sign off on the law for it to be put into action. As long as everyone stops and thinks about possible ramifications, Caylee’s Law could be very beneficial for our country. We can stop innocent children who are murdered from letting their murderers go free.
Whether Casey Anthony is guilty or innocent, Caylee’s Law is needed and should have been enacted a long time ago.
0 comments:
Post a Comment