The Casey Anthony Trial

A lot of people are truly upset about the verdict rendered in the Casey Anthony trial. I can understand that, because it appears that justice has been averted. Most people naturally assume that Casey really is guilty, and all the evidence would appear to lead to her. So did she get away with something? No, because, first of all, human justice is not divine justice, and there is a real principle of divine justice in this universe. Is she guilty? It would appear so. But... and this is a big but, it worked out in a way that presents a very special principle of American justice; that someone is innocent until "proven" guilty. The key word here is proven, and the prosecution did not do that. It leads me to have great faith in the American justice system in that we as people are presumed innocent until "proven" guilty. Why is that so? It goes back to pre revolutionary war days when British soldiers, (not police) would enter any house at any time of day or night, abduct any or all of the households occupants, and condemn them on the slightest bit of evidence, and there was no recourse. Anyone at any time could be taken out of their home, and executed on the whim of the powers that be. So, as revolutionary Americans, who believed in freedom, upon gaining our independence decided that no one would be convicted of any crime, political or social, without being "proven guilty" beyond a reasonable doubt. Did that mean some would get away with criminal acts? Yes, it did. But it protected every American from false imprisonment, and gave them security within their persons. The verdict of this trial shows that we still uphold the foundations of our society when we let a highly likely guilty person go free because it is not "proven" that they committed the crime. Without that we are nothing.

The Patriot act, (nothing patriotic about it) would overturn this in a heartbeat. It states that "terrorists" are military combatants and therefore not subject to the court system. They are to be treated as military prisoners, without recourse to lawyers, to council, or to any need to be "proven" guilty. This is an overt attempt to circumvent the laws established in our society given us at the time of the revolution. This is real, it is going on right now in this country, and this trial, as sad as it may be, proves that for the average citizen, the rules still apply that we must be "proven" guilty before we are punished. I don't like to see anyone get away with a murder, or at the least child abuse anymore than anyone else in our society, but I think it is more important that we do not allow our emotions to rule us, but to look at the evidence provided by the prosecution, and decide whether it is really "proof" or not. This is what the jurors did, they felt that the state's case was not proven. And they read the verdict as such. I am extremely proud of these jurors for standing up to what America is all about, and acting appropriately.