When the Lindsay Clancy trial ended in a mistrial earlier this month, I had a strong hunch about what really happened in that jury room. From the start, I suspected that political affiliation played a significant role in how the jurors viewed a mother accused of killing her three young children, and that their worldview mattered as much as the evidence presented to them.
I even wrote about my assumption that it was liberal women who were on the side of Clancy being found not guilty by reason of insanity. Eleven of the twelve jurors, including all nine women, reportedly were ready to declare Clancy not criminally responsible. One man stood in their way, and the case ended in a mistrial.
The reaction was, of course, disturbing.
Within hours, a GoFundMe for Clancy's family blew past $1.1 million, and its organizer raised the goal to $3 million. Virtually all of the donations appeared to come from women. Women by the thousands treat a mother accused of strangling her own three children with exercise bands as if she were a feminist folk hero, wronged by a husband who dared to move on with his life.
But, gender really wasn’t the issue here. I suspected politics was a much bigger factor. Now a new poll shows that my suspicion was well-founded, and what it reveals about the left's tolerance for even the most horrific crimes is alarming.
ICYMI: Republicans Need to Put This in a National Ad Right Now
According to the new University of New Hampshire poll, among Massachusetts residents who have heard something about the case, 40% believe Clancy was guilty, 36% believe she was not guilty, and 24% don't know or have no opinion. A plurality believed her guilty, which is good, but not by much. But when you break the numbers down by party, and the divide is stark. Two-thirds of Republicans (67%) say Clancy is guilty. A majority of Democrats (51%) say she isn't. A plurality of independents (46%) haven't made up their minds.
The split holds on whether the district attorney should try her again. Overall, 43% say he definitely (31%) or probably (12%) should seek a retrial, while 33% say he probably (15%) or definitely (18%) should not, and 24% are unsure. Republicans want a retrial by a wide margin, with 64% in favor. Nearly half of Democrats (47%) want the district attorney to drop it. Independents are once again stuck in the middle, with a plurality (42%) offering no opinion.
Think about what that means. Three children are dead. The defense never disputed who killed them. Yet a majority of Democrats who followed the case have concluded that the woman responsible shouldn't be held responsible, and nearly half don't even want a second jury to hear the evidence. Democrats were the only cohort where a majority believed Clancy not guilty.
It's sad to see how left-wing politics makes you more likely to believe that a woman who killed her three young kids isn't responsible for her actions. This goes beyond one jury or one fundraiser. It reflects a worldview that looks for an excuse for everything and treats accountability as cruelty, even when the victims are children. When that mindset reaches the jury box, justice doesn't stand a chance.
So what is it about leftism? I’m not even talking about this case alone. There’s a reason why liberal cities seem to tolerate crime rather than fight it. Is it really being woke to enable crime? I suppose it is, but that seems to go against every basic instinct of humanity.
