The human conscience invariably shudders at the slaughter of innocents. And the death and abandonment of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony in Florida outraged people all across the U.S. The child went missing in the middle of July 2008 and, by the time the Orange-Osceoloa police department found her in December, plants had begun to grow through the skeletal remains of the toddler. Outrage approached hysteria with the arrest and trial of Caylee's mother Casey. Mothers who kill their children are as hoary as Medea and women accused of such crimes have always been the target of archetypal bile and vitriol. Yet, like no other legal case before it, the proceedings became the talk and scandal of the moment, not only broadcast on television but on the Internet and on social media, everyone tweeting their horror at every tic of the defendant, every lie uncovered, every counternarrative offered by the defense lawyers. In the end, the prosecution's case against Anthony had too many discontinuities to lead to conviction. Her acquittal, nevertheless, did not end her existence as a pariah. It marked only the beginning of her life as a moral outcast a different kind of prison.
The Top 10 Everything of 2011
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Business Blunders
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Comebacks
- Top 10 Consumer-Spending Trends
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Campaign-Debate Moments
- Top 10 Best Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Worst Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Food Trends
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Trends
- Top 10 Marriage Stories
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Memes
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Worst Movies
- Top 10 Best Movies
- Top 10 New Findings in Parenting
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Numbers
- Top 10 Oddball-News Stories
- Top 10 Overreported Stories
- Top 10 People Not Running for President
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Protest Signs
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Ridiculously Obvious Study Findings
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Smart-Phone Apps
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Space Moments
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 Toys
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Best Tweets
- Top 10 Worst Tweets
- Top 10 U.S.-News Stories
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Creative Videos
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 World-News Stories
- Top 10 Photos of the Year
In 54 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months