One of Casey Anthony's attorneys, Cheney Mason, speaks to the media. Image: Ira Bostic / Shutterstock.com
The same week the United States stewed over the acquittal of Casey Anthony, the death of Humberto Leal, a Mexican national executed in Texas on July 7, 2011 was a mere footnote in the day’s headlines. Both defendants relied on pro bono defense attorneys. However, the media deemed Casey Anthony a cause célèbre, fueling attention that allowed her defense ranks to swell to six attorneys, while Leal’s relative anonymity meant that the condemned man reached his death penalty trial without ever being informed of his basic right to seek legal help from the Mexican consulate.
The cases of Leal and Anthony and their vastly divergent fates highlight how media attention is a powerful force in the American justice system. Yet, it also reveals how the media hand picks defendants for the sake of sensation and overlooks coverage of immigrant and minority cases such as Leal’s.
While the media swirled around Anthony, other mother child murders took place in the United States but received little coverage. Ka Jang, a 29 year old California woman was arrested for frying her own child in the microwave in March 2011, an atrocity that received limited local coverage except for a June 21st report by CBS Sacramento. Like Anthony, Jang initially lied about the child’s death. Yet unlike Anthony, Jang, with plainer looks and immigrant descent, failed to lure media attention and must rely on the overworked court appointed attorney juggling multiple cases to assist in her defense.
In contrast, Casey Anthony’s pretty face and girl next door gone bad vibe made her perfect for casting as the unlikely child-killing villain in the newest reality show nee court trial. The American media responded by developing her character and plot line over time, providing us with tantalizing tidbits that convinced the entire nation that this party girl was truly a heartless child-killer. In the process, the news report lulled us into a state that forgot this was reality television spectacle, not court allowed facts.
Unlike reality TV, America did not get a call in vote to decide the fate of the jailbird star, Ms. Anthony. Instead, real life justice relied on a far older means of representation, twelve persons, unbiased by the media roar, who would decide on evidence alone. Those 12 jurors voted unanimously, after hearing the evidence allowed and presented in court in full, that Casey Anthony was not guilty. The judge accepted the verdict. The media hype and certainty of absolute guilt did not play out in the real life courtroom. This unexpected outcome left many with an unsatisfying series ending to the crime show.
There is little doubt the real-life Casey Anthony is a flawed young woman who did not act the part of a responsible mother at best, and at worst, got away with child murder. Yet she is now scheduled to leave jail soon. However, before the nation adopts a lynch mob attitude towards this 25 year old and joins in the cries for revenge, it is important to remember that Ms. Anthony was unwittingly cast in a horrific reality show in which her persona was manipulated by the media for ratings. The media likewise manipulated us, the viewers, convincing the American people of the media version of Ms. Anthony’s guilt and working us into a frenzy of outrage towards this accused killer.
The Casey Anthony America reviles though is reality TV product, not the real life 25 year old. Our reaction has been whipped up by a profitable propaganda media machine whose goal is to get us glued to our television sets, not a fair reporting of facts. While the unfair media coverage does not mean that Anthony is innocent, the media’s manipulation makes it impossible to discern real life from their manipulative ratings driven reality. The truth is the media has tainted our view of Anthony so much, we really cannot discern a rational opinion informed by facts based solely on the media reports that fill our evening news.
Thus, it is time to leave The Casey Anthony Show behind us and begin to focus on the lessons learned by this tele-tragedy. The American media focused on a pretty, white girl at the exclusion of fair reporting on a number of cases. Yes, we ought to be outraged at young Caylee’s death, but in a balanced and unbiased media reporting we would also mourn the loss of Jang’s infant and have the opportunity to join the debate on the legality and fairness of executing a Mexican national who may not have received the best defense afforded to him. In focusing on Anthony the media not only manipulated our national emotions, but determined what issues and what people matter to our country and what kind of people do not count as much.
Justice should not be swayed by media attention, a pretty face or immigration status. Yes, it is time we leave Casey Anthony alone. However, we should not allow the media to get away with this kind of biased melodrama and anger-mongering again.
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