NEWS

[MuffyBee]

http://www.gazette.net/article/20110715/NEWS/707159682/1034/1034/some-lawmakers-qusetion-need-for-caylee-s-law&template=gazette
Some lawmakers question need for ‘Caylee’s Law’
Jacobs wants to require reporting of missing children
by Erin Cunningham, Staff Writer
July 15, 2011

At least one Maryland lawmaker wants to change Maryland law based on a Florida jury’s verdict in the trial of Casey Anthony, but others say it is not necessary and question whether media headlines should dictate legislative actions.

Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Dist. 34) of Abingdon intends to introduce a bill in the next General Assembly session calling for a Maryland “Caylee’s Law” that would make it a felony to fail to inform police that a child is missing or dead. About 20 states currently are considering such a law, and an Internet petition is pushing Congress to enact one as well.
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“It’s terrible that it takes the tragic death of a child to spark legislation,” said Jacobs, a member of the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee. “It really grabs the attention of people and makes them aware that something needs to change.”

However, other members of her committee, including its chairman Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda, question the need for such a bill.
Frosh notes that during this year’s legislative session the General Assembly passed a law making child neglect a crime.

“If your kid is missing for a month and you do nothing about it, that’s neglect,” Frosh said.
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Sen. Christopher B. Shank (R-Dist. 2) of Hagerstown, who sits on the Judicial Proceedings Committee, said that while he was among those outraged by the Anthony trial, he does not see the need to enact Caylee’s Law.

He suggested that lawmakers and others channel their emotions into correcting other inadequacies in the child welfare system.
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[trimmonthelake]

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/01/13/general-assembly-to-introduce-caylees-law-after-casey-anthony-case/
General Assembly To Introduce Caylee’s Law After Casey Anthony Case
January 13, 2012 7:24 PM
BALTIMORE (WJZ)– The death of two-year-old Florida girl Caylee Anthony will be considered in a seemingly unlikely place– the Maryland General Assembly.

Political Reporter Pat Warren reports, a bill is being introduced as Caylee’s Law.
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[trimmonthelake]

http://times-news.com/local/x1296864118/Local-lawmakers-send-bills-onward
January 21, 2012
Local lawmakers send bills onward
Panhandlers, Caylee’s Law on agenda in Annapolis
Matthew Bieniek Cumberland Times-News
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Edwards is also co-sponsoring a “Caylee’s Law” bill in the Senate. Senate Bill 139 would make it a crime for failure to report the disappearance of a minor. Kelly is sponsoring a similar, independent bill in the House.

The proposed laws developed after Casey Anthony’s acquittal in Florida earlier this year, regarding charges that she murdered her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Anthony did not report her daughter missing to police, who were finally alerted to the missing child by Casey Anthony’s mother 30 days after the child was last seen.

The laws are designed to allow prosecutors to bring felony charges against parents who do not quickly report missing children, with most of the proposals requiring law enforcement notification by 24 or 48 hours after a child goes missing, or a shorter time frame to report the death of a child.
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[trimmonthelake]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/maryland-politics/post/caylees-law-bill-comes-before-md-committee/2012/02/09/gIQApcHu2Q_blog.html
Posted at 11:21 PM ET, 02/09/2012
‘Caylee’s law’ bill comes before Md. committee
By Greg Masters

Lawmakers in Maryland debated on Thursday whether to impose among the harshest penalties in the nation on parents who fail to report a missing or dead child. Maryland is one of more than a dozen states considering such a move after a Florida mother, Casey Anthony, was acquitted last year of the most serious charges, including murder, in the death of her 2-year-old daughter.

Dubbed “Caylee’s Law” after the child, whose disappearance Anthony never reported to police, it would make failure to report within a day a missing child younger than 13 a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The penalty would be almost seven times the maximum sentence in New Jersey, which last month became the first state to enact such a law.
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[grace-land]

http://www.gazette.net/article/20120402/NEWS/704029957/1034/-caylee-s-law-to-get-senate-hearing-tuesday&template=gazette

Monday, April 02, 2012
‘Caylee’s Law’ to get Senate hearing Tuesday
Legislation makes it a felony to not report child’s disappearance, death

The Senate Judicial Proceeding Committee will have a hearing Tuesday on “Caylee’s Law,” a bill that makes it a felony if parents or custodians fail to immediately report the disappearance or death of a child.
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Maryland’s version of the legislation, House Bill 20, requires parents or custodians to report a child as missing within 48 hours of last being seen or two hours after a child’s death.
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