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ANNAPOLIS — A Maryland lawmaker says the Casey Anthony case has prompted her to propose a bill making it a felony for a parent not to report the death of their child.
Sen. Nancy Jacobs says she received nearly two dozen emails from constituents in Harford and Cecil counties in the days following the verdict in the Florida murder trial. She says they asked that she review Maryland law and find a way to criminalize the act of not reporting the death of one’s child.
Jacobs says the bill would make it a felony for a parent, legal guardian or caretaker not to notify law enforcement of the death of a child within a short period of time after the death is discovered.
There is no way this bill is constitutional.
Who determines this time period? It should be a definite determined reasonable amount of time.
this is a good law
under what circumstances? natural? accidental?
Casey Anthony did not fail to report the death of her child. She failed to report her missing. There is a big difference. We don’t need new laws based on knee-jerk reactions to over-sensationalized criminal cases.
@thunderfoot: Whatever the merits or shortcomings of this proposal may be, Casey Anthony did fail to report the death of her child. Her defense was that the child drowned in the backyard pool and that Casey, rather than report it, actively attempted to conceal it.
There is no law requiring reporting a dead body, child or adult [other than to Social Security or other benefit paying agency]? Does this mean if my husband dies I can just leave him where he dropped and continue to live as if nothing happened? Right now it’s hard to tell if he’s dead or alive, but I poke him every now and then and he grunts.