Amanda Knox Appeal: It's Time For A Petition Against Extradition

UPDATE: SIGN THE PETITION TO THE WHITE HOUSE- In less than 48 hours there have been almost 1,000 signatures. If you believe Amanda Knox should not be extradited to Italy click the link below to bring you to the Amanda Knox petition on the White house site:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/protect-amanda-knox-extradition/3vdzDmLN

February 1, 2014
There has been a lot of talk since Friday's guilty verdict of Amanda Knox. There is also a lot of confusion as to what happens next. For those who are not aware of what is going on, I'm going to illuminate the terrain.

The next stop for this case is the final appeal to the Italian Supreme Court where the guilty verdict will be either upheld or overturned. Is this good news? In my opinion- no. Why? Because I think the Supreme court has shown it's colors, and those colors do not have Amanda's name on it. It was the Supreme court that threw out the not guilty verdict of the first appeals trial, and now it goes right back to them to either approve or overturn the new guilty verdict. So what do you think they are going to do- throw out the guilty verdict also??? That court got exactly what it wanted, in a bizarre over-reach of it's own authority; a...We don't like that take, let's do it again... mentality. In short, I fear the Italian Supreme court is going to uphold the guilty verdict- and then comes the business of the extradition of Amanda Knox to Italy to serve the 28.5 years she has been sentenced. And here is where the plot thickens.

There is an extradition treaty between the U S and Italy, but it's not as simple as it sounds. The US does not HAVE to extradite Knox. That is a State Dept. a la Obama decision. But of course the U S would need grounds in order to refuse extradition. There are certainly ground to refuse, but the question is- Will they refuse to extradite. No one seems to know what the State Dept thinks, they are not talking.  I know they are not clueless, they're just being........ diplomatic.

In fact- Italy may not even make a formal request for Knox's extradition. Italy does have something to lose by making such a request. I don't think Italy would like the U S legal system to hold this circus up to a magnifying glass, as Amanda has the right to fight extradition in a court of law- a U S court that is. And I think you can take it to the bank, a U S court would have a field day with this case and run the U S constitution up the flag pole.

I think it's pretty clear there are a lot of question marks as to what can happen. However, I do have a suggestion. I think Amanda's family should start a petition against extradition (yes, that rhymes). A petition collecting signatures of Americans who believe Knox should not be extradited due to a flawed case and an unjust verdict. Now what this will do is put pressure on the State Dept. Politicians hate to go against the will of a large group of people. And this will show this is not the whining of a few malcontents, but rather the will of a large mass of American citizens demanding justice.

Now I know the Knox's lawyer Ted Simon said on Thursday that people should not talk about extradition yet as there is another appeal coming. Well sorry Ted, but since that appeal is to the Italian Supreme court, I think it's time to scrap the optimism, and take up the fight. It's going to take time to gather a large amount of names on a petition- wait too long and it won't get done. This is doing something constructive rather than waiting around. I appeal to the Knox family to consider the idea. I'll sign it myself and know plenty of others who will. I believe the one big asset Amanda has is the support of the American people- why waste that opportunity. Anyone can start a petition, but I think it has more validity coming from Amanda's home base. Unfortunately, something like this is of no use to Raffaele Sollecito- he's trapped in Italy with no passport. God help him.

UPDATE: A petition has been start on the White House petition site. I do not know who started it but it is off to a great start. This petition it attached to the government site whitehouse.gov  I have included a link at the beginning of this post that will bring you right to the Amanda Knox petition page. This is how you as an American citizen can help bring this to the attention of the State Dept and President Obama. Please sign the petition.

No Justice For Knox in Italy: Sentenced to 28 years

January 30, 2014
The Amanda Knox trial, number 3, has ended today with a shocking verdict of guilty. She has been sentenced by the Florence court to 28 years, with Raffaele Sollecito receiving a 25 year sentence.

Amanda Knox is safe in Seattle, WA. and did not go to Italy for the trial, however, Raffaele Sollecito was at the court today- and he, at the moment, is in harm's way. While the Italian court can not simply pluck Amanda out of the U.S., Sollecito will have his passport taken away at the very least, as ordered by the court. His arrest is also possible, although the court did not officially order it.

Last year the Italian supreme court overturned the innocent verdict which freed the two, and round 3 of this never ending nightmare was kicked up in Florence and ended with a ridiculous verdict of guilty today. Knox's lawyer delivered the news to her via telephone and stated that she was  "petrified" by the verdict. How Sollecito took the news is not as important as what he plans to do about it (I know what I'd do if I were in his shoes). He showed great faith in getting justice from the court, and it blew-up in his face. Did he have a plan B? Amanda on the other hand, had the good sense to stay the hell home, but as she well knows- her safety is not guaranteed. There is still the possibility of extradition to Italy to serve her sentence. And, at the moment, she stands a convicted murderer. With that said, one must keep in mind that conviction does not automatically correlate with justice- and justice in Italy seems to be in the eye of the beholder- or which judge and jury is pulling duty- or maybe even which way the wind is blowing. However, one thing seems certain, justice in this case seems to have nothing to do with proving guilt or innocence. How two judges and six members of the jury can find Knox and Sollecito guilty with no evidence or convincing proof is completely surreal. It's damn scary.