It All Starts With the Children... like Caylee Anthony

This weeks events surrounding the Casey Anthony trial for the death of her daughter, Caylee, have astonished not only the public in Florida, but around the globe. After a six week trial a jury returned a verdict of not guilty for the mother of slain toddler, Caylee Marie Anthony. Read the New York Times summary of the case and the verdict here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/us/06casey.html?_r=1&hp.

People are astonished, not because a parent was found innocent of killing her daughter, but most likely because of the implications for children everywhere from this case. When a child's life is taken and no one is to blame in a court of law, a sense of diminished value can be felt regarding that needless loss of innocent life.

The Regent in Oxford program also began this week, as a group of students have gathered at Oxford University, wonderfully hosted by Hertford College, to take a course called "Politics, Family Law and Immigration Policy," a cutting edge offering that considers the global conundrum of immigration in the context of family law and policy taught by Dr. Mary Manjikian and myself. Focusing on strengthening nations and societies by providing public policy that strengthens immigrating families, we gathered at the Greenwhich Maritime Museum to investigate the flow of immigration waves througout history.

The entrance to the museum began our study with the most vulnerable and important aspects of immigration - the children. "It All Starts Here...." How any society values its children will determine the strength of that nation in generations to come.

Look for future blog posts here on the interplay between immigration and families, and how that relates to current U.S. events... and even Caylee Anthony.