Or maybe they'd just forgotten what neglect and abuse look like because, after all, criticizing a woman for expressing her sexuality is so . . . Victorian.
But, more than an inability to understand complex legal theories, I think the reason the jury was unable to convict Anthony was that it just didn't buy the prosecution premise that a woman who enters a hot-body contest while her child is lost has both the motive and propensity to kill her. In a society where people have the fundamental right to enjoy themselves - others be damned - an immature and self-obsessed mother is no more likely to murder an innocent baby than your run-of-the-mill reality-show hausfrau. And anyone who criticizes her for those acts of carefree self-expression is a judgmental prude.
That's where individualism of the libertarian model has taken us. The idea that no one has the right to tell us how to live our lives (Legalize drugs! Ban motorcycle helmets! Don't ban violent videos! Keep your rosaries off my ovaries!) has led us to a place where caring about No. 1 has become a secular religion, and turned all of those who preach restraint into heretics.
So it's not surprising at all that Casey Anthony got off, even in the face of strong evidence and the absolute implausibility of alternatives.
The only thing surprising in all of this is that she was put on trial in the first place. Because, after all, it's not a crime these days if girls just wanna have fun.
Christine M. Flowers is a lawyer. E-mail
cflowers1961@yahoo.com. She blogs at philly.com/philly/blogs/flowersshow.
