Poll: Casey Anthony Jurors' Names Should Have Been Kept Private

Here in Florida, juror names are a matter of public record. As you probably already know, Judge Belvin Perry delayed the release of the names in the Casey Anthony murder trial because he feared for the jurors' safety. 

Back in July, a Pinellas County jury acquitted Anthony in the 2008 death of her 2 year-old daughter, Caylee. The trial was televised and widely publicized. When the verdict was announced many people were angry, some protested, others lashed out online. Judge Perry ordered a three-month long cooling off period with the jurors' safety in mind. He said that some jurors had received threats.

The day the jurors' names were released, Palm Harbor Patch did not publicize those names. We did reach out to the jurors to invite them to share their stories and so far none have spoken out.

We also published a poll asking your opinion.

"What do you think should have been done about the names of the jurors in the Casey Anthony trial?"

As of this writing, the poll has received 7,773 votes. 

3,790 (49%) said "Make the names public"

3,943 (50%) said "Keep the names private"

This was not a scientific poll by any means. However, it did get a respectable number of responses, and as you can see the outcome was fairly close with 153 votes separating the two opinions.

Palm Harbor Patch readers are not shy when it comes to sharing opinions about the release of the jurors' names and the case. We've highlighted some of the comments. No doubt, the topic will make for lively conversations for years to come. Feel free to add your opinion below.

"It's a hypocritical world we live in. There's HIPAA type laws all over the place - you might have a close relative in the hospital you'd like to get information on and you can't - and yet you have a case like this where complete strangers have threatened the lives of anyone remotely associated with the trial - and they release the names of the jurors? I mean WTF! (and I don't mean "Well, That's Fantastic"!) ..... that's just plain nuts." -

"Well….the trials in most instances are open to the public. Therefore when you serve on a jury you will be seen and in many cases your name will come out in the end. 

With the violence in the world it could be frightening and that moves along into the category of witnesses. More than one witness has been killed and more than one has been put in the witness protection plan. Personally I thought part of the jurors may have been intimidated by some of the "stronger jury members" but bottom line is the jury members are responsible for the outcome of the verdict and the public can have an opinion, Namaste." -

"This is just WRONG. The jurors did their duty, albeit poorly, and now the System has "done" them. Casey Anthony was saved from the death penalty and freed from any responsibility for her daughter's death; yet, these jurors have now been left to fend for themselves, in the face of death threats, from people who now know where they live and work. Yep! Sign me up!" -

"Seems to me, I'd take my chances skipping out on jury service if you lose the right to privacy. These people did their job. Prosecutor didn't. Leave them alone." -

"I feel they should not have been made public because this will discourage anyone wanting to serve on a jury. I think many of the jury’s would have had a different decision , if they had been able to see all the evidence. Now that they have been able to see and read most of the damning evidence, I am sure their verdict would have been guilty. No use crying over this, in time CASEY ANTHONY will pay for the murder of her child." -

"I think the names of the jury should be released so we can all know who these stupid people really are. I'm ashamed to be living in Pinellas County amongst these people! Bluntly stating "there was not enough evidence" or "the prosecution didn't prove its case" is no excuse for not at least convicting on manslaughter! They ignored the evidence presented and had absolutely NO COMMON SENSE. If it is true that they were in a hurry to get out of there, that is unforgivable and I hope they're haunted for their selfishness for the rest of their lives." -

"I do not think the names should be made public, this case was so high profile and there are people who are unfortunately still upset that Casey was acquitted. I watched the entire trial from start to finish and on an emotional side I would say she is guilty, but the fact remains that the defense created enough confusion to create reasonable doubt and the jurors had to make their decision based on the law and the evidence provided which lead to her being acquitted. No one knows for sure what happened except God and Caylee. If Casey did intentionally murder her child, she will be held accountable in the biggest court room of all on judgement day. Until then, we have to accept the jury's decision, and let it go because she cannot be tried for again thanks to the prosecution overcharging her right out of the gate. Rest assured though for the people who want her to pay for a crime they feel she committed, she may be out of jail but she will never have a normal life ever again. She is hated by most everyone and the stigma will follow her the rest of her life. She will have trouble starting a new life, finding love, and really all of life's journeys she may not be behind bars but she has to live in seclusion and people always harassing her. I don't think the jury should be harassed for doing their civil duty." -

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