Last week, I wrote about mercy as being a lesson in the Casey Anthony case coverage. Here’s another one that I’m pondering. Filicide. It’s been around for centuries, it happens with alarming frequency in the United States today, and yet it is still one of those elephants in the room that no one wants to talk about.

Filicide? What’s that?

Filicide is Susan Smith and Andrea Yates and Ellen Feinberg and Diane Downs. Filicide – maternal filicide — is the name given to the particular kind of homicide where mothers kill their children. (Paternal filicide happens too, and more on that, later.)

You know about maternal filicide.

1. Meryl Streep won an Oscar for Sophie’s Choice. What was that choice? Filicide.
2. Oprah Winfrey produced and starred in Beloved, based upon the novel by Toni Morrison, where the character Sethe killed her daughter Beloved to keep her from being a slave.
3. Medea (remember, Euripides?) killed her children all because Jason left her.
4. Lois (with Peter) killed son Stevie on an episode of TV’s Family Guy.
Continue Reading Another lesson from the Casey Anthony case ….