Stunned by the not-guilty verdicts this week in Florida's Casey Anthony murder case, Maryland Sen. Nancy Jacobs wants to make it a felony for a parent not to report the death of a child.
Jacobs said dozens of outraged constituents have contacted her and asked her to do something. The Senate minority leader said she is drafting a bill to present in the next legislative session.
She's now examining criminalizing the failure of a parent, guardian or legal caretaker to inform authorities that a child has gone missing or has died -- new crime categories that several local top prosecutors said could prove helpful to them.
A Florida jury acquitted Anthony of murder and child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Caylee, convicting her only of less-serious charges related to lying to the police. A judge today sentenced the 25-year-old to four years, the maximum sentence under the law. Because of the time she served while awaiting trial, she is set to be released July 13.
While jurors who have talked to the media said prosecutors did not present enough evidence to prove murder or abuse beyond a reasonable doubt, those involved with the case, including Anthony's defense attorneys, agree the young mother did not report her child's death in a timely manner.
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Although some lawmakers and defense attorneys have warned against legislating in reaction to an emotional, headline-grabbing crime, Shellenberger said he knows from experience that it can have practical implications in the courtroom -- even if they come years later.
That's exactly what they are doing. Knee-jerk reaction from lawmaking jerks.
As OJ still hunts for the murderer
Why enact a law for a virtually non existant problem?
Failing to report a missing/dead child could already fall under neglect or obstruction statues.
I agree with 8:52-kneejerk reation from lawmakers wanting to get on the Anthony bandwagon, hoping to make a name for themselves.
Nancy Jacobs is a reactionary, attention-seeking, shameless self-promoter. And I'm a republican saying that.
This is a law that is simply not needed. How many cases of this occurring have happened in Maryland?
Move to Florida and pass knee-jerk laws to solve Florida problems.
Okay-Maybe I'm missing something but Jacobs is proposing legislation to make it a felony if a PARENT (or guardian I understand) doesn't INFORM authorities that a child has gone missing or HAS DIED?
So does that mean a parent is supposed to report ANY death of a child? What if the child died due to an accident or a disease?
I can just the door that this proposed legislation would open for those involved in heated child custody cases.
This opens the door for the parent w/custody to report the child missing the second the child is late coming home from a visit w/the non custodial parent, if the scheduled visit was 24 hours or more.
Knee jerk laws are how we get some of the worst laws on the books. Take a deep breath step back and look at all the pros and cons.
This is dumb. It would be a crime to not report the death of a child. If you can't convict someone for killing their child, how are you going to convict them for not reporting the death? She'll just claim that she didn't know the child was dead.
What do you expect--a phone call saying, "my kid is dead, but I didn't do it?"
What happen to common sense? Did it leave with the 12 IDIOTS back to the village?
A sad state of affairs when legislation is required for this.
I am Senator Nancy Jacobs' Chief of Staff, Suzanne Collins. Lets start with anonymity. If you want to criticize give your name or your motive becomes suspect. As a reporter for nearly 30 years in Maryland prior to this position, I ran into several cases in which a "Caylee's Law" could apply. Even in Anne Arundel County in recent years a man buried his dead son who died of illness and told no one. When the remains were found it became a huge homicide investigation until the details were uncovered. Certanly someone who kills a child and buries or disposes of the body, causing the evidence to decay, should be punished by law. Yet there is no such statute in Maryland. A child's death should be reported promptly. We are also investigating to see if requiring the dissapearance of a child in a set amount of time should be included in the bill. There have been 22 constituents who wrote Senator Jacobs in the first two days after the Anthony verdict asking that someone in Maryland not be able to get away with a "Casey Anthony" type case, going a month without reporting a dead child. There are more e-mails today. Other states are introducing similar bills including Florida, where people saw first hand why it's needed. Finally Senator Jacobs confered with a State's Attorney first to be sure it would be worthy to put on the books. The process in Annapolis allows for debate, input, voting and ammendments to prevent the state code from being filled with unnecessary laws.
Suzanne Collins
Suzanne is right. After reading all of the comments - all I could think is how hateful can you people be. Yes, you would think it would be common sense for a parent to report their child missing/dead however, like the Anthony case, I'm sure there are more than just THAT case. Even if the parent claims they didn't know the child was dead, they should STILL be required to report the child missing. Let's pretend Casey didn't know her daughter was dead, don't you think she should've gotten into more trouble for allowing 31 days pass before her mother called 911 to report Caylee missing? Just because it didn't happen in Maryland this time, doesn't mean it hasn't or won't happen in MD. Remember in Ocean City a few years back the woman that had SEVERAL dead babies buried and hidden around her house/yard? Unforutnatley common sense isn't so common anymore. If you haven't heard, it's not just law makers that are calling for this but on www.change.org over 1.1 million people have petitioned for this law to be enacted. The petition is grow by the thousands everyday. Thank you Suzanne and Nancy!
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