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* I’m not generally a big fan of creating new laws designed to address a once in a millennia event. But, you had to figure that this was going to happen…
Illinois lawmakers have joined a growing stampede to tighten state laws for parents who fail to report missing children.
At least three legislative measures introduced in the Capitol in recent days are part of a national reaction to the high-profile acquittal of Casey Anthony in connection with the death of her daughter, Caylee.
“There is a groundswell of anger over the tragedy,” said state Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria, who said his office received 400 emails calling for action after Anthony was set free.
Illinois joins Nebraska, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Ohio in looking for a legal way to punish parents who fail to report a missing child within a reasonable amount of time.
He got 400 e-mails? Sheesh.
Let’s take a look at the bills, shall we?
* HB3799 is a “Democratic” bill…
Creates the offense of failure to report the disappearance of a child to a law enforcement agency. Provides that a person commits the offense when he or she, as a parent, guardian, or other person having physical custody or control of a child under 13 years of age, willfully or by culpable negligence fails to make contact with or otherwise verify the whereabouts and safety of that child for a period of 24 hours and to immediately report the child as missing to a law enforcement agency after this 24-hour period expires without contact. Provides that a violation is a Class 4 felony.
* HB3800 is a “Republican” bill, which has the same 24-hour reporting period but adds another offense: Failure to report the death of a child…
Creates the offense of failure to report the death of a child. Provides that a person commits the offense when he or she, as a parent, guardian, or other person having physical custody or control of a child under 18 years of age reasonably believes that the child has died and fails within one hour of forming that reasonable belief, or as soon thereafter as reasonably practicable if compliance within one hour is impracticable, to: (1) notify a law enforcement agency of the child’s apparent death and the location of the child; or (2) seek medical attention on the child’s behalf. Provides that failure to report the death of a child is a Class 4 felony.
* HB3801, sponsored by Democrats, contains everything in both the above bills, but adds an exemption…
Provides that a person does not violate this provision when he or she fails to report due to an act of God, act of war, or inability of a law enforcement agency to receive a report of a child’s death or the location of a child’s corpse.
Thoughts?
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 3:42 pm
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Isn’t already against the law to fail to report a death?
Comment by soccermom Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 3:44 pm
Waste of everyone’s time.
Comment by walkinfool Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 3:47 pm
Wait for the Christian Scientists exemption.
Comment by gfalkes Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 3:49 pm
One of these will pass 118-0 and 59-0
Who could vote against it? Vote against it and the direct mail piece is already done.
Remember when Pate would kill stupid stuff like this … and commonsense gun control?
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 3:50 pm
My prediction is that one of these passes, Brady runs for governor one more time and immediately after winning the primary introduces a bill to repeal this law…
Comment by Small Town Liberal Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 3:52 pm
Call it the Panderer’s Act.
Comment by Old Milwaukee Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:02 pm
This is the worst way to devise a new law. It’s reactionary and foolish on it’s face. What about the mother in shock after a child dies? Does she have an hour to get over herself and get on the phone? How about clocking the time of death? A coroner will tell you it’s far from exact. So are charges brought when a corner predicts the child has been dead more than an hour?
We have laws, an enforcement system and a jury of peers. Sorry the case didn’t go the way the loyal audiance of Court T.V. wanted it to, but that’s the system.
Comment by L.S. Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:06 pm
I think it’s already illegal, isn’t it? It’s called neglect, and not reporting a missing child is, by definition, neglect.
But if it makes some freshman legislator happy to get a bill passed, then why not?
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:10 pm
Further proof you can “fool” most of the people most of the time.
Comment by D.P. Gumby Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:15 pm
Sen. Millner passed legislation a few years ago that addresses the issue. It allows for charges against someone who moves a body in an attempt to conceal a death. Came about due to some incidents involving drug abuse victims who died and then their fellow drug abusers moved the bodies to conceal their drug use.
Different circumstances, but yields same results. Anthony admitted to moving the body to conceal the death.
We don’t need a new law in Illinois.
Comment by Voice of Experience Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:16 pm
It’s so blantant I expect Rod Blagojevich to try to sponsor it.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:17 pm
Waste of time as walkinfool said, but the last bill is the most reasonable.
Maybe, just maybe, there could be hearings with witnesses from law enforcement who discuss whether or not this is actually necessary.
Comment by PrecinctCaptain Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:28 pm
To whom do I report the death of disco? Does Steve Dahl qualify as law enforcement?
Comment by The Captain Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:29 pm
Proposing laws on the basis of what makes Nancy Grace viewers angry seems like a bad idea.
Lawmakers should be filtering knee-jerk stuff like this, not encouraging it.
Comment by Elmhurst Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:29 pm
This is a pretty good outline of some of the reasons this law would do more harm than good.
“Prosecutors who wrongly charge people aren’t usually stripped of their law license or criminally sanctioned. (In fact, they’re rarely sanctioned at all.) Black men accused of murder aren’t typically represented by “dream teams” of the country’s best defense attorneys. And, believe it or not, if there’s a problem in the criminal justice system when it comes to children, it’s that parents and caretakers are too often overcharged in accidental deaths or as a result of bogus allegations, not that they regularly get away with murder.
Even more regrettable is that every time a Casey Anthony-type trial captures the public’s attention, someone gets the idea that we need a new law in response to the completely unrepresentative case, a law that presumably would have prevented that particularly travesty from happening. The problem, of course, is that the new law — usually poorly written and passed in a fit of hysteria — is too late to apply to the case it was designed for. But it does then apply to everyone else.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/caylees-law-casey-anthony-_n_893953.html
Comment by bored with press Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:36 pm
Does anyone really think that a law will prevent the kind of people who do this sort of thing from doing this sort of thing? Really?
Comment by cynically anonymous Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:40 pm
There should be a moratorium on any and all new laws, rules, edicts, regulations, and other “bright ideas” until the budget is balanced and the debt is paid. The only thing that should pass the legislature is the removal of laws.
Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 4:52 pm
As recently as the late 1970s, the Illinois Revised Statutes (now the Illinois Compiled Statutes) came in four volumes. Today, as hard copy, it’s a nine volume set.
So if we as a citizenry figuratively want to throw the book(s) at bad people, well, I suppose that laws like these have, in aggregate, given us a whole lotta extra heft to toss.
Apart from that — what have we accomplished?
If you ask me, it’s been a thirty-five year legislative exercise in sound and fury signifying…………nothing much.
Comment by Dooley Dudright Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 5:25 pm
There ought to be a law preventing duplicative laws from being proposed!
Comment by Pmaking some changeslutocrat03 Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 5:50 pm
It’s “once a millennium“.
Comment by Ped Aunt Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 6:29 pm
how about a law that prevents sending kids to a field to detassel corn with live electrical equipment in it
Comment by foster brooks Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 7:24 pm
400 emails? I am calling BS on that one. FOIA request, anyone?
Comment by Nice kid Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 7:41 pm
I guess some Mushrooms watch a lot of afternoon TV. If they had their way, Judge Judy would be on the Supreme Court and all the problems of Pine Valley would be solved.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Aug 9, 11 @ 10:34 pm
I would be in favor of a law against mentioning Casey Anthony in the state of Illinois.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Wednesday, Aug 10, 11 @ 7:07 am
My God, I find myself in agreement with Cincinnatus. I find your idea of limiting what gets the attention of the legislature is intriguing.
If only there were some “master tactician” that could enforce that kind of long-term thinking and discipline, some long-serving, seemingly all powerful voice that could serve as, I don’t know, the “Speaker” for the people…
Comment by Colossus Wednesday, Aug 10, 11 @ 10:59 am