The Latest Reason I Despise the Death Penalty: This Casey Anthony Circus

[Mike 03]

Since I joined DU, I have shifted from defending the death penalty to hating it and hating myself for at one time having had ambivalent feelings about it.

But this is turning my stomach:

Today we had yet another hearing into the Casey Anthony case, in which she is pleading indigence, and needs more funds to pay for her defense. We also learned that the Prosecution in this case, who initially refused to seek the death penalty against this mentally ill, very young mother who may have cracked, has outspent the defense by millions and is trying to showcase this pathetic homicide trial, which is being televised.

Now of course that this case is being carried on CNN, the well-funded prosecution is proud of the fact it wants to find guilty, and then kill this young woman who is basically just an uneducated, mentally ill girl

The judge is like some dizzy-dunce character out of Vargas Llosa's AUNT JULIA AND THE SCRIPTWRITER. He is hard to hate, but he is an idiot who permits totally irrelevant material to be broadcast over the mainstream media, some of which (IMO) violates attorney-client privilege.

This case is prominent, but it is not a joke.

Ugh, I am so upset it is hard to find the proper structure for this post, but let me at least try.

First of all, IF she is guilty, in NO WAY WHATSOEVER can I ever deny that she deserves to be punished, but does she really deserve to be put to death? Does this crime qualify for Capital Punishment? Is she up there with Michael Lee King, Letalvis Cobbins, Lemarcus David and those defendants, or Lawrence Bittaker or the Hillside Stranglers, or any of those maniacs? These are stranger-on-stranger crimes that resulted not only in homicide but extreme, prolonged torture, rape, mutilation. In most cases, mentally disturbed mothers do not get subjected to Capital Punishment for killing their children.

I give up in my view that there is any rational explanation for seeking the DP in a case like this. If she is guilty, she needs help and rehabilitation, not Lethal Injection.

We as a nation need to come to our senses.

In no uncertain terms: I am not defending any criminal actions that Casey Anthony may have committed, but:

If you calmly, rationally compare her crime to the crimes of 99% of most other people who have been put to death, it will probably seem as ridiculous to you as it does me that this case could be so exploited to the point it has been.

Over time, I have come to hate the death penalty--although it has been a 20 year fight, almost to the day (March 11 when a friend was raped and murdered)--but in some instances, Capital Punishment is especially absurd, as in this case.

This is nothing but a circus for TV. It is shameful, shameful, shameful.

[NYC_SKP]

1. We are a violent nation, by and large. It's really a shame, an embarrassment.

Public officials use the death penalty to impress, stay in office, and rise to higher office.

Very, very sad.

I'm glad you're point of view changed over time.

[ConcernedCanuk]

2. I too think the Death Penalty is wrong/out-dated.

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.
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As we all know too well, our "justice" system is flawed.

BUT

even if we are 100% positive that a certain person is responsible for certain crimes;

I think a study, humane and long-lasting should be made of each individual to help us understand the motives of the criminal.

"Death Row" to me is worse than death itself.

We should be able to figure this out from non-criminals with terminal/painful illnesses that willingly choose death over life -

YET

We tell some prisoners that we're gonna kill them, but not YET.

Isn't that sorta sick???

Are there other creatures on this planet that behave like us?

right . . . .

and WE are the "civilized" ones?

(sigh)

[Fire1]

3. The death penalty is barbaric and solves nothing. n/t

[TornadoTN]

4. I pretty much agree with everything you said

The girl needs mental help and life behind bars. There's very little evidence that I've seen that doesn't convince me fully that she wasn't responsible for this tragedy.

But having said that, I'm disgusted with the way this trial is being handled. The prosecution is on a witch hunt against the defense and trying every way in the world to make sure she doesn't have a fair trial. They have spent tons and will continue to spend tons to make their show trial for the country.

The justice system is broken, especially with today's ridiculous news media with people like Nancy Grace leading the charge.

[customerserviceguy]

5. For starters

there hasn't even been a trial, and consequently, no penalty phase. Being as she is female, statistically she is less likely to get a sentence of death.

I expect the prosecution to make the very best and strongest case it can, and if she gets a death penalty, there's probably a 99% chance that some future appeals court will reduce it to life without parole, and her attorney can justify that he/she did a good job.

Why are you so freaked out this early in the process?

[paulsby]

6. an argument could be made that mothers who kill their children disproportionately do receive

leniency.

why is a mother killing her child LESS heinous than those other cases the OP mentioned?

and there always seems to be a presumption in mother-child murders that there is mental illness.

[upi402]

7. That 'no do-overs' thing

is always worth mentioning.

Of course, judges never make mistakes and DA's never have agendas.:sarcasm:

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. First and foremost we are now a "let's get him" with or without

evidence country. There is no such thing as a fair trial with the court of public opinion, including a jury of the internets-where any fool can log on.

In my lifetime (39) I have gone from supporting the death penalty to completely against it. Cases like this only make the idea even more insane.

[middle distance]

9. i agree death penalty is bad

But, I wouldn't presume that Casey is mentally ill, I think she might just be a sociopath. She strikes me as cold, calculated, and an actress.

Having said that, I think that Nancy Grace's coverage of the case is horrendous. She constantly attacks the defendant, and calls her "tot mom" which is some sick attempt to be cutesy and boost ratings. I can't stand her!

I don't think a fair trial is out of the question though; I think its a fallacy that media exposure automatically means the jury will not be fair (how about OJ?). Sure its not ideal, but we should have a little more faith in people's ability to be objective, especially when given such a solemn task as deciding a murder trial.