Death penalty always makes news – for executions and the delay in carrying them out…as in India. Greater Voice is though strictly against such penalties.

Why?

Then… think about a frightening chance of executing an innocent person… as Columbia University law professor James Liebman claims he and a team of students have proven that Texas gave a lethal injection to a wrong man — Carlos DeLuna.

Los Tocayos Carlos (translated from Spanish as “The Wrong Carlos”), a book-length monograph and comprehensive website published by the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, helps answer these haunting questions.

Based on one of the most thorough investigations of a criminal case in U.S. history, the groundbreaking article by James Liebman and the student’s team uncovers evidence that Carlos DeLuna, a poor Hispanic man with childlike intelligence who was executed in Texas in 1989, was innocent.

Case of mistaken identity?

Carlos DeLuna was executed in 1989 for stabbing to death a gas station clerk six years earlier. Though it was a ghastly crime but DeLuna, a school dropout, maintained that he was innocent.

Now… 29 years after DeLuna was arrested, Liebman and his team published a mammoth report in the Human Rights Law Review that concludes DeLuna paid with his life for a crime he perhaps did not commit.

Greater Voice believes that investigations by police always show some or the other shoddy work — The prosecution, most of the times, fails to pursue the cases accurately faster – AND the defense is always so weak, thanks to the poor legal assistance in any country for that matter. DeLuna was sent to death row, no doubt.

In this case, DeLuna’s defense — a reference to someone else named Carlos, a Carlos Hernandez — was not taken seriously, according to Los Tocayos Carlos. But evidence uncovered years after the execution shows that Carlos Hernandez did exist and was well-known to police and prosecutors and that his crimes continued after DeLuna was executed.

“Carlos DeLuna’s execution passed with little notice,” Liebman told the media. “No one cared enough about the defendant or the victim to make sure they caught the right guy.” He said, “Sadly, DeLuna’s story is not unique. The very same factors that sent DeLuna to his death — faulty eyewitness testimony, shoddy legal representation, and prosecutorial misfeasance — continue to put innocent people at risk of execution today.”

Deep Breath…

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It was Mother’s Day on May 13 and an email from US President Barack Obama read: Let’s celebrate the special role mothers play as cornerstones of our families and our communities. Happy Mother’s Day to you and yours! Obama, unlike our Indian President, never forgets to take the opportunity to wish people on such occasions which are emotional and close to our hearts. I like him for his such straightforwardness and openness. [Click here to read Meri Duniya Hai Maa Tere Aanchal Mein]

“Michelle’s been by my side — and I’ve been at hers — for nearly 20 years now. She’s comforted me on tough days and given me inspiration. She’s done so much to raise our two beautiful girls. She’s an incredible leader — and both my wife and my best friend. I know you appreciate her, too — so will you join me in wishing her a happy Mother’s Day?” he further wrote.

True, mothers are cornerstones of our families and our communities. Tell me… on this day… did you honour any remarkable women who strive and sacrifice every day to ensure that their children have every opportunity to pursue their dreams! [Click here to read Maa Tujhe Salaam…]

If not, do not forget next time to mark the Mother’s Day by paying tribute to the women who shape our characters and set our families up for success. Please do not forget that through their examples, the modern children learn the principles of hard work, compassion, service, and personal responsibility. Always remember their encouragement and unconditional support they instill in you and values they share with us which are so vital. Mothers raise children under an array of circumstances, and many work long hours inside and outside the home balancing myriad demands. [Click here to read Never Too Far Away For You To Give You A Hug, Mom !]

I am happy Obama had created the White House Council on Women and Girls as one of his first acts in office — to ensure that the Americans integrate the needs of women and girls into every decision they make. “I was proud to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which continues to help women secure equal pay for equal work, and my Administration continues to promote workplace flexibility so no mother has to choose between her job and her child. And because of the Affordable Care Act, women finally have more power to make choices about their health care, and they have expanded access to a wide variety of preventive services such as mammograms at no additional cost,” his mail read.

Greater Voice calls for appropriate observance of the Mothers Day and believes that you pay respect to you mother not just on any particular day but everyday. Isn’t it?

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In India, people are generally worried at their debt positions. Greater Voice urges them to stay calm, have patience and continue to believe in themselves. If this is not enough, may they first look at the External Debt Position of their country! Here it is –

The latest data available is of December 2011-end that says… India’s external debt stock stood at US$ 334.9 billion recording an increase of 9.4 per cent over the level of US$ 306.1 billion at end-March 2011. The rise in external debt is largely attributed to higher commercial borrowings and short term debt.

Do you then think India’s external debt has remained within manageable limits? Government says — it is. To substantiate, it says it has prudent debt management policy that emphasizes raising sovereign loans on concessional terms with longer maturities, regulating external commercial borrowings through end-use and all-in-cost restrictions, rationalizing interest rates on Non Resident Indian (NRI) deposits and monitoring long as well as short-term debt.

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In France, Francois Hollande has been sworn in as the new president. Greater Voice extends best wishes to the socialist leader who within hours named Jean-Marc Ayrault as his new prime minister. Is Hollande’s success as president dependent on his relationship (ha…ha ha…ha don’t read too much) with German Chancellor Angela Merkel? Then what was the need to hurriedly rush to Germany on the same day that he took office!