Public Irate Over Casey Anthony Verdict; Social Media Sites Explode With Opinions
July 5, 2011— -- "She can kill her child and get away with it.. but I can't get married to my partner and adopt a child," Mark Walker wrote on his Facebook wall mere moments after Casey Anthony was found not guilty of first degree murder, manslaughter and child abuse.
"This is O.J. Number 2," one woman said outside the courtroom, where hundreds of people gathered to protest the jury's decision.
In New York's Times Square, a woman reacted tearfully to the trial's verdict: "She killed a little girl. So she gets off and, you know, and she goes home and maybe has another baby that she can abuse and hurt."
Even celebrities joined in the discussion, airing their own opinions of the verdict.
Kim Kardashian, whose father represented O.J. Simpson during his 1995 murder trial, wrote on Twitter, "WHAT!!!!???!!!! CASEY ANTHONY FOUND NOT GUILTY!!!! I am speechless!!!"
Sharon Osbourne was appalled: "Casey Anthony not guilty??.....it's a disgrace. She'll probably get her own reality show now."
Such was the reaction from the public after jurors cleared Casey Anthony of the most serious charges against her in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. Anthony was found guilty only on four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement. For those who felt the verdict was a miscarriage of justice, the anger quickly erupted onto Facebook and the Twittersphere.
As for why so many with no direct personal stake in the case expressed themselves so boldly after the verdict, some psychological experts say it is the media's fault.
"The main reason that people are reacting so strongly is that the media convicted Casey before the jury decided on the verdict," said Dr. Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychiatrist in the department of psychiatry at UCLA. "The public has been whipped up into this frenzy wanting revenge for this poor little adorable child. And because of the desire for revenge, they've been whipped up into a lynch mob."
While the jury decided that there was too much reasonable doubt to convict Anthony, Lieberman said nobody likes a liar, and Anthony was a habitual liar.
"And nobody liked the fact that she was partying after Caylee's death," said Lieberman. "Casey obviously has a lot of psychological problems. Whether she murdered her daughter or not is another thing."
Still, Lieberman said she is not aware of one news story that questioned whether Anthony could be innocent.
"In general, the public had the story made up in their minds, and it's hard for people to accept an outcome that is different than what they already decided, even though there wasn't enough evidence brought up to show that," said Lieberman.
"It became a soap opera," said Lieberman. "It was a very captivating murder-mystery. It still is a captivating murder mystery."
Despite the evidence, or lack thereof, many were open about their feelings on the outcome of the case. Peg Streep, author of "Mean Mothers," said she was personally shocked by the verdict.
"Ultimately the myths of motherhood – combined with the descriptions of Casey as a good mother and the photos of a smiling baby with her mom – apparently proved more convincing than the evidence the prosecution presented," said Streep.
"In a world where every other kind of love is conditional, people cling to the myth of mother love – and, of course, the myth renders the act of killing a child you've birthed, fed, dressed, and cuddled with unthinkable," continued Streep. "There was plenty of evidence Casey did all of [these] things, even with care."
