Nancy Graceless
Friday, August 22nd, 2008The Case of Casey and Caylee Anthony is sad. The circumstances are sad, the reaction is sad and the outcome thus far has been sad. Leading the charge, as always, is Nancy Grace: the worst thing to happen to the American justice system.
*record scratch* WHAT?
“Nancy cares about children,” you say. “She wants to make sure justice is served!” You’re getting warmer. “She wants to see criminals in jail!” DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!
Well, it’s close enough for horseshoes.
The problem with Nancy Grace and people with similar shows is that they focus on criminal cases but they completely disregard the American ideal of Justice. Programming like this is centered not on the victims but on the accused. Any time even the most minute piece of information about the case is leaked or reported, Grace and her army of “experts” devote hours upon hours to analyzing it until there’s nothing left to do but replay the information and their interpretation of it over and over and over again.
What her program amounts to is the modern equivalent of a witch hunt, poisoning the jury pool and burning the defendant at the stake of public opinion. If you don’t believe me, take a look at how little time they devote to evidence that might vindicate the accused, or when such is opined, notice how quickly the hawkish Grace strikes it down as a silly delusion.
There can be only one outcome in the world of Nancy Grace: the defendant is always guilty.
The latest in her long line of justice-subverting topics is the case of the missing girl, Caylee Anthony. The biggest complaint coming from the know-it-alls at CNN is the mother’s seeming lack of concern for her daughter’s disappearance and the abnormal length of time between when the daughter had first gone missing and the mother reported her absence to the police.
The evidence is mounting, but there has been no trial. No trial, no presentation of evidence, no confessions, no murder charges… and yet, the talking heads are acting as if they already know Casey Anthony is guilty and her child is dead. The only thing the network is concerned about is pimping this poor child’s potentially tragic case to make ad revenue by sensationalizing the story with no regard for protecting the process which guarantees Americans a fair trial. You can see it in the way they point their fingers or in the phony sympathy Grace feigns for the camera whenever Caylee’s picture is plastered on the screen.
The mother’s actions are questionable, there’s no doubt about that. She hasn’t been helpful with the investigation and her parents seem to be half a bubble off. This could be indicative of mental illness, could it not? Maybe there are legitimate reasons why this woman acted the way she did. We have no way of knowing one way or the other because there hasn’t been a fucking trial yet, and already, this woman is being maligned–without a conviction–in front of the entire country.
I’m not saying there’s no merit to such opinions, but this is not how American justice works. Consider this: Caylee Anthony is still alive and has been abducted by an acquaintance of Casey Anthony. Casey doesn’t realize the significance of the situation or understand its gravity because she is a schizophrenic and therefor has an abnormal perception of reality. Psychiatrists confirm this to be the case and Caylee Anthony is found and placed in the custody of Child Protective Services while her mother is placed in an institution. Custody is not awarded to the grandparents because of their suspected malfeasance and are deemed unsuitable to be considered as caretakers for this child.
But that’s not how the trial goes. In the trial, the prosecution, confident in the evidence they’ve accumulated and the support of public opinion, proceed, without a body, to charge the defendant with murder. The jury, having followed the case on national television before it came to trial, deliberate for no more than 15 minutes before coming to a unanimous verdict: guilty as charged. They recommend the death penalty.
Casey Anthony is stowed away in a maximum security prison where she is habitually beaten by other inmates and neglected by the guards. After being systematically tortured and raped by fellow inmates before suffering a mild concussion, the person who abducted her child is discovered and arrested. Caylee Anthony is found alive and healthy but traumatized by the experience. Months pass before Casey’s appeal is heard, and details from the defense’s case citing psychiatric examinations and physical evidence suggesting abduction begin to surface and, wouldn’t you know it, Nancy Grace is on TV once again, ranting about how the case was mishandled and how the prosecutors involved should be fired… but makes no mention of her own massive part in the outcome of the trial.
It could happen, people. This is nothing more than conjecture, just like Nancy Grace’s crusading is little more than conjecture. What both sides have in common is the lack of a trial to back them up.
She’ll have her day in court and we’ll find out whether she’s guilty of the heinous charges she’s being accused of by certain blabbermouths. Until then, how about we let the process work and stop sabotaging the system by jumping to conclusions, hm?
If Caylee Anthony turns up safe and sound and her mother is innocent after all, I’ll be petitioning CNN to kick Nancy Grace’s detrimental ass off the air.
Recent developments in the case can be found at the America’s Most Wanted website. I have no problem linking to them. While they’re focused on catching crooks, they at least seem to give a shit about the victims.
