Casey Anthony Jurors Names To Be Made Public

Casey Anthony was found not guilty and set free by a jury of 12 about 3 months ago. While much of the trial was televised there is much that only the jury is aware of and they made a decision based on the information given. That is the way our justice system works and we may not always agree with it, good or bad. By law the names of the jurors should have been publicly released after the trial, however, the judge took into consideration that the jurors were receiving death threats and withheld their names for a cooling off period.

This law has many people rethinking it's value at this time. One juror was so scared that she fled Florida for good. The jurors have been expecting this day but still don't want to talk to the media. Some critics are speculating that they are collectively working on something (maybe a book deal?) but that is only speculation. Others think the jurors did their civil duty and now just want to be left alone.

It is very unusual that a judge would issue a "cooling off" period but this is a very special case on a very high profile level. These jurors were verbally attacked after the not guilty decision was read and many even received death threats because of their verdict.

I have to say I think the judge acted responsibly. These were unknown citizens that were chosen to perform a civil duty that any one of us could have been called to do. They don't deserve to receive death threats or even the verbal bashing they were and are still receiving. They made a decision based on the facts of the case, those 12 people had a great burden and I don't think they would have let a child killer go free if they didn't whole heartedly believe their wasn't enough proof to convict. That had to be a very hard decision to make.

What all of this has brought to light is the fact that by law the judge in any case is to release publicly the names of any jurors on any case before courts. In most of those cases it's probably not that big of a deal but in one as high profile and emotional as this one is it right to release those peoples names? Does it allow for retaliation against innocent people just doing a civil duty? In one case a person with the same name as one of the jurors has been falsely harassed. This begs the question should the law be repealed?