In lieu of the tragic death of Caylee Anthony preceding her mother’s highly publicized case, lawmakers in Tennessee and across the nation are moved to make some changes. Caylee’s Law.
In what appears to be as much as a revolt against Anthony’s verdict as a memorial for her lost daughter, petitioners from sea to sea are pushing to make the failure to report a missing child a federal crime. As expected, the million-plus signatures have not budged federal bureaucracy so quickly. State lawmakers in over a dozen states have thus taken matters into their own hands, pushing to make Casey Anthony’s actions a crime.
According to the Tennessee analogue’s cosponsors Sen. Eric Stewart, D-Belvidere, and Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley argue that Tennessee law already require parents to report a missing child but specifies no punishment for the failure to do so. While the bill’s details remain to be set in stone, it is likely that failure to report a missing child would constitute a misdemeanor, with a maximum one year in jail and $2,500 fine. Tougher penalties would ensue if the parent’s actions precipitated in the injury of death of the child.
The proposed law has not been free from criticism. Tennessee law enforcers argue that such a case of parental negligence has been yet to be documented in the state, and creating a law would boil down to superfluous jargon.
More can be read about the debate at http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110712/NEWS21/307110034/Tennessee-lawmakers-consider-Caylee-s-Law-
