After the surprising not guilty verdict yesterday for Casey Anthony, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to blog about it. But, I woke up this morning determined to write something. So I decided to write about the most important part – Caylee. This little girl is dead and no one will be held criminally responsible for her death. That, in and of itself, is a tragedy. Caylee’s life meant more than that.

I am a lawyer and I have a fervent belief in our justice system. I do not blame the jury, I blame the lawyers. I believe the State’s Attorney aimed too high in trying to charge Casey with Murder One. That’s way too high of a threshold when you don’t even know the cause of death. Before the verdict, my bet was on the aggravated manslaughter of a child charge. But the prosecution did not present enough evidence for that charge either.

A law school colleague wrote the following:
In the United States, by law all persons accused of a crime are deemed innocent until proven guilty – with admissible evidence – by well-trained and competent state or federal government attorneys. This goes for each and every citizen, no matter how despised in the ever-growing court of public opinion. That is why this country is great.

I wholeheartedly agree. But where does this leave Caylee?  Has she fallen through the cracks of our judicial system? Yes. So, in honor of Caylee, I challenge each of you to donate your time or money to organizations that protect the rights of children. Last night, in solidarity, we all turned on our porch lights at 9pm for Caylee. We want to show Caylee, each other, and ourselves that this little girl’s life mattered. So do something in honor of Caylee, no matter how big or small.