[lilaculpepper]

Why 'Caylee's Law' Is A Bad Idea
Thoughts? Opinions?

ETA: Caylee's Law - sorry for the typo...

[Poncho06]

I see no point to enacting this into law. It's an emotionally spurred law that has little to no research backing it and frankly will not do a thing to prevent this for happening in the future.

[Natsmom0801]

It may not prevent things like this from happening again, but it will make parents responsible for their actions. Yes, I feel that Casey is quilty but aside from that I also feel she should have been held responsible for not reporting her daughter was missing.

Too many children have gone missing for no reason and parents sit back and dont do anything about it. As a mother I could not and would not sleep until I found my daughter. I dont understand how she could go out and party, get tattoos, sleep around with guys and never once report that little Caylee was missing. The whole case was shady and yes I do believe the grandparents were some how involoved, but Casey admitted that she had known Caylee was missing and did nothing about it. Whether she knew she was already dead or not, she should have done something about it.

[Poncho06]

Originally Posted by Natsmom0801

It may not prevent things like this from happening again, but it will make parents responsible for their actions. Yes, I feel that Casey is quilty but aside from that I also feel she should have been held responsible for not reporting her daughter was missing.

Too many children have gone missing for no reason and parents sit back and dont do anything about it. As a mother I could not and would not sleep until I found my daughter. I dont understand how she could go out and party, get tattoos, sleep around with guys and never once report that little Caylee was missing. The whole case was shady and yes I do believe the grandparents were some how involoved, but Casey admitted that she had known Caylee was missing and did nothing about it. Whether she knew she was already dead or not, she should have done something about it.

How many? Give some numbers on how often this is a problem. Child negligence laws that are already in place cover most of this anyway, the state failed to prove their case. The one hour and 24hour time frames were pulled out of the women who created this *****. There were no psychologists consulted in the creation of this petition to take into account the grief process nor a persons reaction to the fear if their child had been kidnapped. This is nothing more than a knee jerk reaction to a unique horrible situation.

[GSLynn]

She didn't get charged with child negligence or abuse, though...so it doesn't appear that FL had it in their law. Here it is illegal not to report a child missing/injured (severely, not a bump on the head or a bruise) or killed.

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwi....processSearch
ETA: The above link is for State of FL since Caylee resided there.

It's very vague. The one thing I am concerned/confused about is why the father (wasn't he a former police officer?) didn't report quickly. He should still fall under the guidelines of a mandated reporter, right?

[frgsonmysox]

When I first read the law I thought it was awful. I continue to think it's awful.

Be angry, but don't make MORE women go to jail for no reason.

[BittyBugsMama]

I don't understand why its bad to have a law requiring parents to report a missing or dead child within a certain time limit. Of course, I think reporting a 16 year old missing is in a whole different ballpark than reporting a 4 or 5 year old missing.

[lilaculpepper]

Originally Posted by Natsmom0801

It may not prevent things like this from happening again, but it will make parents responsible for their actions. Yes, I feel that Casey is quilty but aside from that I also feel she should have been held responsible for not reporting her daughter was missing.

Too many children have gone missing for no reason and parents sit back and dont do anything about it. As a mother I could not and would not sleep until I found my daughter. I dont understand how she could go out and party, get tattoos, sleep around with guys and never once report that little Caylee was missing. The whole case was shady and yes I do believe the grandparents were some how involoved, but Casey admitted that she had known Caylee was missing and did nothing about it. Whether she knew she was already dead or not, she should have done something about it.

To 1st bolded: I'm a parent who's already responsible for my own actions. Why should I be punished because a parent on a high profile case f*ed up? Seems like a knee jerk reaction and highly irresponsible.

2nd bolded: I agree with the PP - how many? If it's such a huge problem then how come you didn't care about a law like this being passed before Caylee become a spectacle?

[K.A.T]

Originally Posted by Poncho06

I see no point to enacting this into law. It's an emotionally spurred law that has little to no research backing it and frankly will not do a thing to prevent this for happening in the future.

This. This law is poorly written and wouldn't do anything to really help. Too many what ifs that can go with this one.

[Poncho06]

I'm not talking about her charges specifically but as a generality of how this law is not necessary. I honestly don't know the full scope of her charges nor why they chose to include or not each charge
that could be applicable.

The definition of neglect from the site you provided is :

Neglect
Neglect is frequently defined as the failure of a parent or other person with responsibility for the child to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision such that the child's health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm. Approximately 24 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands include failure to educate the child as required by law in their definition of neglect.6 Seven States specifically define medical neglect as failing to provide any special medical treatment or mental health care needed by the child.7 In addition, four States define as medical neglect the withholding of medical treatment or nutrition from disabled infants with life-threatening conditions.

and FL specific

Neglect
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 39.01

Neglect occurs when a child is deprived of, or is allowed to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment or a child is permitted to live in an environment when such deprivation or environment causes the child's physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired or to be in danger of being significantly impaired.

and

Abuse means any willful act or threatened act that results in any physical, mental, or sexual injury or harm that causes or is likely to cause a child's physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired. Abuse of a child includes acts or omissions.
Harm to a child's health or welfare can occur when a person:

Inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the child physical, mental, or emotional injury

.....

Abandons the child
Neglects the child

As far as the father goes, generally being a mandated reporter is not a life long obligation. I was and once I left the field I was working in am no longer required by law.

Originally Posted by GSLynn

She didn't get charged with child negligence or abuse, though...so it doesn't appear that FL had it in their law. Here it is illegal not to report a child missing/injured (severely, not a bump on the head or a bruise) or killed.

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwi....processSearch


It's very vague. The one thing I am concerned/confused about is why the father (wasn't he a former police officer?) didn't report quickly. He should still fall under the guidelines of a mandated reporter, right?

[justarandomname47]

I think the article made great points as to why this law was poorly conceived. There should be some kind of law reporting death/missing for any minor, I think, but I think the timeline is pretty wrong. I don't think that a law about reporting would have helped in this case at all, but it still seems logical that parents shouldn't just allow a missing child to go unreported for so long. That shows a huge amount of negligence.

[New Mama]

Originally Posted by Natsmom0801

I dont understand how she could go out and party, get tattoos, sleep around with guys and never once report that little Caylee was missing. The whole case was shady and yes I do believe the grandparents were some how involoved, but Casey admitted that she had known Caylee was missing and did nothing about it. Whether she knew she was already dead or not, she should have done something about it.

I think the general consensus it that Casey Anthony most likely killed her daughter or at least knew of her death and covered it up. If this is the case, then WHY WOULD she report it to the authorities? That would've meant a search earlier and a chance the body would be discovered in which case an autopsy could have perhaps proven cause of death. By NOT reporting her missing, she bought herself LOTS of time in which the body badly decomposed and a cause of death could not be determined therefore making it difficult to prove she was indeed murdered and so on.

I don't get why people (in general) act so shocked that she didn't call the police. She didn't want to draw attention to herself!

[GSLynn]

Originally Posted by lilaculpepper

To 1st bolded: I'm a parent who's already responsible for my own actions. Why should I be punished because a parent on a high profile case f*ed up? Seems like a knee jerk reaction and highly irresponsible.

2nd bolded: I agree with the PP - how many? If it's such a huge problem then how come you didn't care about a law like this being passed before Caylee become a spectacle?

To the first: Then the law wouldn't affect you. If you do what you are supposed to do and report an accident/injury, missing or dead child, then you're doing your job anyway. Not all parents would do that. In my state it's illegal to NOT act in the best interest of a child and report these things. In FL, there isn't anything specified. If it's written under the "neglect" portion of the Child Abuse law like it is here, it's no different than any other issue that falls under neglect. And if you are not neglecting your child, then none of the laws would affect you anyway. There are very specific incidences cited under the statutes that make it neglect, (such as unsupervised children under a certain age---here it's 12 yo unless the child has taken a babysitting/CPR class and is qualified to stay home and babysit). It's pretty common sense that this should be law. In our state, age does make a difference. Obviously a 17yo girl going off with the boyfriend is different than a 2yo who has gone missing and no one can find. The law here is written to reflect situational issues and isn't just a blanket "you have to report" kind of situation.


To the 2nd: I don't think that most people realized there WASN'T a law regarding this. I NEVER knew FL law didn't have this fall under their neglect policy because MY state DOES. So it's not that I read she didn't care before...there just wasn't knowledge that this wasn't already in effect and I think most of us who saw at least some of the trial expected her to get sentenced based on just that alone if murder couldn't be proven.

I think the law needs to be written similarly to what some states have already done, rather than written out of emotion, but that is something the State of FL and those other states who will follow (who don't already have this written in their laws) will have to take into consideration before trying to pass "Caylee's Law"

So how long should parents have before they report a child missing? If your 3 y/o goes missing do you think you should wait a week or two to see if they'll come back on their own?

And if a child dies not at the hospital, aren't normal parents going to call 911 or rush to an ER anyway? That's notifying the authorities.
The bill apparently has some flaws and there are some things to be worked out but I see absolutely nothing wrong with enforcing something like this.

[GSLynn]

Poncho-As I understood it, even retired police officers/firefighters still had a duty to report. Maybe that depends on if they do volunteer work or are actually retired and no longer practice in their profession in any form. I'll have to check when the website comes back up on that one. Maybe not a retired nurse (again, unless she's a volunteer nurse) or daycare provider that no longer does child care. I still hold an active license (til end of this month) so even though I don't do any child care anymore, I would still have to report something if I saw/suspected abuse/neglect. Til July 31st. That's not to say that on Aug 1st, I will just turn my head away from a child that needs me, but I simply would not be mandated anymore by law.

I guess we'd need more information on George Anthony to know A) if he is a volunteer officer B) holds an active license or C) if he is still active in his community as an officer. I never really read up that much on him about that.

[Cereal Killer]

I agree with Jamie. When I read the petition for Caylee's law, I was stunned and thought no rational person would read the petition and think it was a good idea. Then, suddenly, it is popping up all over my FB newsfeed, from friends advocating and demanding that we sign the petition and make this law. I had to pick my jaw off the ground.

As far as George Anthony, Casey did NOT live with her parents when her daughter disappeared. She was living with her boyfriend. They weren't aware of the fact that Caylee was missing.

[hopingforbabymc]

Why would anyone object to a law that requires you to report your child missing if they've been gone for a certain amount of time? I don't get this. It's your child and your duty to know where they are at all times and make sure they are safe. If they are missing, then it is your duty to report it. You are responsible for their well-being.

Being required to contact the authorities when your child goes missing, is going to do nothing but help you find them faster. Why would you not want every resource available to find your precious child?

I don't understand why some would be against this.

[justarandomname47]

Originally Posted by Marlena79

Why would anyone object to a law that requires you to report your child missing if they've been gone for a certain amount of time? I don't get this. It's your child and your duty to know where they are at all times and make sure they are safe. If they are missing, then it is your duty to report it. You are responsible for their well-being.

Being required to contact the authorities when your child goes missing, is going to do nothing but help you find them faster. Why would you not want every resource available to find your precious child?

I don't understand why some would be against this.

I think the issue is the amount of time. One hour is a pretty small timeframe. And (as the link suggested) there are a lot of questions from that (one hour from death or discovery?). I think there should be a law, but the seemingly arbitrary times in the proposed law are an issue.

[Natsmom0801]

Originally Posted by Poncho06

How many? Give some numbers on how often this is a problem. Child negligence laws that are already in place cover most of this anyway, the state failed to prove their case. The one hour and 24hour time frames were pulled out of the women who created this *****. There were no psychologists consulted in the creation of this petition to take into account the grief process nor a persons reaction to the fear if their child had been kidnapped. This is nothing more than a knee jerk reaction to a unique horrible situation.

Ok, Open mouth and insert foot! I am sorry, I worded this wrong.

My feelings regarding this law is that it would protect children when parents do something to them. Even if the state did not prove their case for murder, she still should have received something for not reporting her daughter missing (if in fact, she did not kill Caylee). Yes, I believe that Casey Anthony killed her daughter. Though even if she didnt and failed to report her missing, What kind of parent does that? There are several laws in place already to protect children when there is physical proof that they have neglected or abused their child, but we can not ignore the fact that Casey failed to protect her daughter.

As far as the law, I do think that they need to reword it. Make it more relevant to everyday actions and not just focused on this one case. Why would you be opposed to a law protecting children? All emotions aside I think there needs to be something that makes it illegal to not report your child missing, grant it the reason she probably did not report it was because she was hiding Caylee or atleast the fact that she murdered her.

[lilaculpepper]

Originally Posted by Natsmom0801

Why would you be opposed to a law protecting children?

Annnnd here we go down the slippery slope of passing legislation "for the children". This is reading a LOT like the "I think cigarettes in cars should be against the law" thread started by a former poster and I'm not liking how pro-government/Big Brother this is going.
Giving those in power an inch ultimately means they will be taking a few thousand miles. Soon, there will be a tax related to this law and then a special committee will be put together to watch certain parents in the country to make sure they don't do anything to their kids. Years down the road that tax will become mandatory in order to pay for the committee's fees and we will ALL be shelling out bucks and for what? Less personal liberties and more big government.