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When The Circus Comes To Town- The Media, Casey Anthony, And The Judicial System

5 July 2011
by Bridgette P. LaVictoire

As Casey Anthony is found not guilty by a jury of her peers, the question now before the American people is why does this case matter. Let us be far more blunt about the whole thing, this case is about a local crime and does not really warrant this kind of attention. Instead, the media circus that has become the 24/7 news cycle has an aggravating habit of inflating cases like this one into something far from the importance that it should normally have.

At what point does the pursuit for justice and the need for the media to know something collide? Here in Vermont, there is a potential crime that the media wants to know more about. Requests for the release of documents relating to the disappearance of a Essex couple have been made, but is it necessary to know those details while the crime is still being investigated?

There comes a point where the media’s obsession with particular crimes and particular cases becomes detrimental. In the Casey Anthony trial, as with the trial of O.J. Simpson two decades ago, the media circus lead to behaviors from the lawyers which can only be considered showboating. They acted far more out of interest in making a show to advance their careers than they did to, well, prove their cases. The lead prosecutor in this case even laughed at his opponent during the closing arguments. At what point do these two lawyers act like professionals? Anthony’s lawyer acted up during the entire proceeding as well.

In the case of the Essex, Vermont couple, those documents could create their own problems if they are released. Any possible guilty party may find out what the police know and figure out how to cover their tracks a bit more. The release of the information may not result in greater knowledge of the whereabouts of these two, but rather a further problems down the road with finding them.

The media can, and unfortunately, does interfere with justice being done. It interferes by making lawyers think that they can become celebrities and it interferes with the need to keep investigations secret for quite some time.

Of course, the fact that this case has been the highest trender on Yahoo probably does not bode well for the future. While the Casey Anthony trial does not effect anyone outside of her own family, people have flocked to it.

After all, nothing draws a crowd like a public hanging.

Well, this time, there wasn’t one. Anthony was found not guilty, and my life hasn’t been changed one iota knowing that.

If you want to read something other than this opinion about the Anthony trial, I’d recommend the Huffington Post or, well, a ton of other places, but honestly, guilty or not, the trial is and should have been nothing more than local news. And, of course, we’re not actually going to discuss the matter of whether or not anything else really matters, huh?

Addendum:

Two last thoughts. The first comes via MSNBC- Casey Anthony will never be able to have a normal life from now on. Because of the media circus, she has already been found guilty. Secondly- given the evidence available in this trial, this case would not have gotten to trial without the media circus behind it.