Why Justice Matters: A Personal Declaration

Justice is not just a principle. It is a promise. A promise that no matter where you were born, what your last name is, or how much money sits in your bank account, the law will weigh you fairly and hold all parties accountable to the truth. That promise, however, is too often broken.

My name is Caroline, and this blog is the product of a life-long pursuit of justice, a calling rooted in heartbreak, curiosity, and an unshakable desire to make the system better. I was a child when I first became consumed with the Casey Anthony trial. Watching the aftermath of Caylee Anthony’s death unfold not as a triumph of justice but as a failure of it lit a fire in me that has never gone out. I couldn’t understand how a little girl could vanish, how the facts could line up like stars, and yet the system fail to connect them. I didn’t just watch the trial, I dissected it. I questioned everything. That curiosity led me to write to Dr. Jan Garavaglia, the chief medical examiner known to most as Dr. G. To my astonishment, she invited me to her lab. I stood in a real forensic facility, looking under microscopes at actual human evidence, reading the outlines of cases, and seeing firsthand what science could show, and where human failure could still interrupt the truth.

That early exposure didn't just shape my understanding of justice but it shaped my identity. I became obsessed with due process, with fair trials, with evidence-based logic. I was still a teenager when I began reading case law. I started to write, to follow trials across the country, and to critique them. Not out of cynicism, but out of care. I believed, and still believe, in the power of the legal system. But belief without scrutiny breeds complacency.

I know the legal world is not perfect. In fact, it is often disordered and dangerous, particularly for victims of gendered violence, racial bias, or institutional neglect. But if the law is not perfect, it must be held to perfection’s standard. And that means all of us must pay attention. We must watch. We must write. We must raise our voices.

This blog is my way of doing exactly that. Here, I will examine both famous and lesser-known cases that expose the fault lines in our justice system. From the complex and deeply troubling disappearance of Suzanne Morphew, a case I’ve studied in exhaustive detail, even drafting a forthcoming book entitled Broken Butterflies, to the unfolding saga of Karen Read, I intend to explore not just the facts, but the frameworks.

Because justice isn’t just about facts. It’s about interpretation. It's about who gets to speak. Who gets heard. Who gets forgotten. It's about every expert who takes the stand and every voice that gets suppressed. It’s about the narratives prosecutors build and the counter-narratives defense attorneys create, and how they impact jurors who are expected to remain unbiased, though they live in a world brimming with bias.

My writing will never be neutral. But it will be fair. It will be researched. It will cite the evidence and question the gaps. I invite readers, students, lawyers, survivors, and skeptics alike, to walk this journey with me. Ask questions. Challenge my interpretations. But do not turn away.

Because justice cannot exist in the dark. It must be illuminated, by both law and light. By critique and by care. I have no illusion that I alone can fix a broken system. But I can do something. I can help make the record accurate. I can honor the victims whose stories were buried beneath bureaucracy or botched investigations. I can speak when others stay silent.

This is not a blog about true crime for entertainment. It is about legal truth. And when possible, legal remedy. Every post here will be meticulously researched, rigorously written, and passionately argued. I will dive into the mishandling of evidence, the suppression of testimony, the implications of precedent, and the voices most often silenced in the justice process.

This work is personal. It is rigorous. And it is only beginning.

If you believe as I do, that the pursuit of justice is sacred, and that no one should be denied fairness because of incompetence, indifference, or institutional bias, then I invite you to stay. To read. To ask. To act. And to never forget that behind every case is a name. A life. A truth waiting to be honored.

Until the next case,

Caroline