Why I don't like the news

[walTer]

I just got a CNN BREAKING NEWS email...

And it says this:

John Evander Couey is sentenced to death for the abduction, rape and murder of a 9-year-old Florida girl in 2005.

Why does the murderer get a first, middle and last name and the poor victim is only a "9 year old girl Florida girl"?

I hate that.

[JPR]

Because it's frequently police policy not to reveal the names of victims, often at the request of the family.

[Kareem]

Because he deserves the public humiliation for committing such a heinous crime.

And the little girl doesn't deserve to have what happened to her become publicly known so no one uses it against her (even by simply taunting her).

[walTer]

Well that might be true but her name is out there, in fact MSNBC news item names her, so it is not a secret-- my point is that the killer gets a name but the victim is nameless and that is sad.

[Athryn]

It's more or less against the law to release the name of a minor that is involved in a crime, whether they're a victim or perpetrator.

[krokodile]

It's more or less against the law to release the name of a minor that is involved in a crime, whether they're a victim or perpetrator.

Same reason that why when you read police blotter's in the paper that no one under 18 is given any name, other than 'youth'.

Its illegal for the news to give out names.

[Houngan]

I don't think that's the case when the child is dead, as here.

H.

[Athryn]

Yeah it is, still protects the identity of a minor. Even if they're a dead one.

[walTer]

From CNN:

"John Evander Couey was sentenced to death Friday for abducting, raping and killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford by burying her alive. Her father said: "I am grateful for the outcome... but it ain't bringing my daughter back." Jessica was snatched from her bed in Homosassa, Florida in 2005. developing story"


My point was that we personify the killer but not the victim- I see this alot in news reports. This was a big story all over the news and all the names have been published.

[Ben Sones]

And the little girl doesn't deserve to have what happened to her become publicly known so no one uses it against her (even by simply taunting her).

Uhm... she's dead. I doubt she cares.

[JPR]

Her parents probably do.

[Alan Dunkin]

At this point it's not about the victim per se, it's about the sentencing of the criminal in question, who was already convicted.

--- Alan

[krokodile]

Let the victim rest, I'm guessing is the point. Exonerate the guilty party, show him to be a person, and how despicable of a person he is.

[Podunk]

I generally oppose the death penalty but it's motherfuckers like that guy who really test my resolve.

[krokodile]

Yeah. I am totally for the death penalty, in serious cases, but not for just anything.

But anything to a child, specially murder or rape or sexual abuse, the perpetrator should be forced to rot in Solitary for life.

[Jakub]

I wonder why the fuck I have to know about the conviction of someone who raped a 9 year old girl in Florida.

Isn't there real national/international news to report?

[krokodile]

No. Just no.

[Jonathan Crane]

This is the AP story via the NYTimes (as Colbert has said, "America’s most venerated journal of treason"):

Jessica Lunsford Killer Sentenced to Die (http://http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Girl-Slain.html?hp).

So not every news outlet covers it in the way mentioned in the original post.

[madkevin]

The news always gives out the full First Middle Last name of a murderer or serial killer or whatever so as to not stigmatize any completely unrelated John Coueys out there who didn't happen to kill anybody. That's why.

[Unicorn McGriddle]

What madkevin said. You've got to remember the potential for vigilante violence, especially with sexual crimes or crimes involving children. Even if it doesn't get that far, the defamatory effect can still be very serious.

[Damien Falgoust]

I wonder why the fuck I have to know about the conviction of someone who raped a 9 year old girl in Florida.
Because the rape and murder of that 9 year old girl led to the Florida law bearing her name: Jessica's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica%27s_Law).

Which was then modeled by other states and has been considered at the federal level (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Lunsford_Act).

[Jakub]

Because the rape and murder of that 9 year old girl led to the Florida law bearing her name: Jessica's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica%27s_Law).

Which was then modeled by other states and has been considered at the federal level (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Lunsford_Act).
Again: so what?

Just because a bunch of attention-whoring politicians decided to cash in on an outrage that was stoked by the media doesn't make it actual national news. On a planet with 7 billion people and in a country with 300 million, the death of a 9 year old making headlines around the country is absurd.

[krokodile]

Again: so what?

Just because a bunch of attention-whoring politicians decided to cash in on an outrage that was stoked by the media doesn't make it actual national news. On a planet with 7 billion people and in a country with 300 million, the death of a 9 year old making headlines around the country is absurd.

I totally agree with your statement, as it doesn't really matter with one person being killed and one other being thrown behind bars, but I fail to see how you associate your post with the one you quoted.

Just throwing that out there.

[Gordon Cameron]

Are we really up to 7 billion?

[NoWayJose]

Yeah. I am totally for the death penalty, in serious cases, but not for just anything. Me, too. No death penalty for just anything.

[krokodile]

Me, too. No death penalty for just anything.

Ha, thanks for twisting it around. No seriously, it helps the conversation loads if you just throw in your 'oh so witty' two cents.

[Damien Falgoust]

Again: so what?

Just because a bunch of attention-whoring politicians decided to cash in on an outrage that was stoked by the media doesn't make it actual national news. On a planet with 7 billion people and in a country with 300 million, the death of a 9 year old making headlines around the country is absurd.
On a planet with 7 billion people and in a country with 300 million, the refusal of a black woman to move to the back of a bus making headlines around the country is absurd.

Sometimes small stories lead to big changes in the law. That's why it's newsworthy.