“Caylee’s Law” Petition Gains Online Momentum

A lot of people have reacted differently (but mostly negatively) to the final verdict of the Casey Anthony case. Some people took to social media to express their anger, some took to picketing outside the courtroom. And some are attempting to take measures to make sure this never happens again.

Michelle Crowder of Durant, Oklahoma created a petition called "Caylee's Law" a petition that would make it a federal crime to not report a missing child. The petition has already gained over 475,000 signatures online, and momentum seems to keep growing in the aftermath of the Casey Anthony verdict.

If it passes, Caylee's Law would establish two new federal offenses. The first offense would be failure of a parent, legal guardian or caretaker to notify law enforcement of a missing child within 24 hours. The second would be failure to report the death of a child within one hour of discovery.

It's getting pretty common nowadays that when major events like this occur, people want to create laws to make sure stuff like this will not happen again. Those laws are usually emotion driven and, understandably, get a lot of support. But is this really necessary? I'd like to think that most parents would call the police if they haven't seen their kids in 24 hours. I understand why they want to pass this petition, but I really don't see it changing anything.

So, what do you think? Is this another one of those emotion-driven, "feel-good" laws, or is there some merit to this petition?