As state Rep. Scott Conklin prepares his own Pennsylvania version of ‘Caylee’s Law,’ two other lawmakers representing the State College area offered some mixed reactions.
The legislative concept, stemming from the 2008 death of 2-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony in the Orlando, Fla., area, is among many similar pushes emerging nationwide this summer. Conklin’s idea would make illegal, in Pennsylvania, the failure to report the death of disappearance of a child in a timely fashion.
At least one similar measure has already been introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate. On the House side, state Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, estimated that more than a half-dozen — in addition to Conklin’s — are in the works.
Outside of still-birth reporting rules, lawmakers have said, it appears that Pennsylvania has no mandate that requires parents to report a child’s death or disappearance within a specific timeframe.
‘I certainly think that if there is no law in place to address that, there should be,’ said state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township.
He said the Legislature would do well to review the subject, including through hearings, and ‘see if there is some lacking in the law that we can fix.’
That said, Corman also thinks the intense attention to the matter in Harrisburg stems from ‘a little bit’ of both political grandstanding and legitimate legislative concern.
Many times when something controversial emerges in the news, Corman said, it doesn’t take long for someone to introduce a bill tackling the subject.
Benninghoff sounded more forceful in his assessment.
‘The bottom line for me,’ he said, ‘is that we have to be careful — not trying to run legislation every time a court case doesn’t come out the way we want it. No Pennsylvania legislator was involved in that (Anthony) case (in Florida). We didn’t hear the defense. We didn’t hear the prosecution.’
Benninghoff said he urges his colleagues to ‘study the issue and really try to determine what we’re trying to accomplish.’ Lawmakers should proceed with caution and clear heads, not with an emotion-driven approach, he said.
‘I get concerned when legislators who are not directly involved in an issue like that think they’re going to fix it with a new law,’ Benninghoff added. ‘ … I don’t want to affect due process and pass laws just because people are emotionally charged up.’
He wants to know more about the exact rationale and goals behind the Caylee’s Law bills in Harrisburg before he stakes out a formal position, he said.
In Conklin’s office, Chief of Staff Tor Michaels said the lawmaker’s aides had not seen any other Democratic-sponsored House versions of the Caylee’s Law bill when Conklin, D-Rush Township, announced his Caylee’s Law intentions last week.
While a mandate for the timely reporting of a child’s death may not have prevented Caylee Anthony’s death in Florida, Michaels said, her mother would have faced additional consequences for having not informed authorities sooner.
Likewise, Michaels said, the legal provision could have helped prevent the ‘massive search for the child’ and the overwhelming public concern over her disappearance.
‘The fabrications of this woman (the mother, Casey Anthony) actually brought the nation to a standstill,’ Michaels said. ‘We’re not discounting or ignoring that there is some emotion attached to these versions of Caylee’s Law. We thought there should be one in the House.’
He emphasized that Conklin’s office has ‘just been inundated with people from Centre County calling for something to be done. Part of a representative democracy, the last time I checked, is to be responsive to the constituents you represent. So we are.’
As for any suggestion of grandstanding, Michaels expressed disappointment.
‘I think we need to send a very clear message that we think is common sense … that if your child is dead or missing,’ it needs to be reported right away, he said.
Casey Anthony came under intense scrutiny for not immediately reporting her daughter missing in 2008. It wasn’t until 31 days after Caylee went missing that Casey Anthony acknowledged her daughter’s disappearance to authorities, according to media reports.
Casey Anthony’s subsequent trial, where she was tried on charges of murder and manslaughter, generated widespread media attention. She was found not guilty earlier this month.
She was never charged with failure to report her daughter’s disappearance. No law existed on that front.
Earlier coverage
