There are exactly three countries on Earth that do not provide guarantees for paid maternity leave. Papua New Guinea and Swaziland are two of them. Care to guess the third?
Social Justice Problems
- on tumblr: guys we need to have a serious discussion about the erasure of nonbinary trans* people
- in real life: ok, I guess I have to explain to my entire class how "feminist" is not an insult
Queer doesn’t mean “don’t label me,” it means “I am naming myself.” It means “ask me more questions if you[‘re] curious” and in the same breath means “fuck off.
Did These Columbia Law Students and Their Professor Prove That Texas Executed An Innocent Man? →
Earlier this week, a group of students at Columbia Law School, along with law professor James Liebman, released a 400-page report detailing the story of a Texas man who was, according to the report, executed for a murder he did not commit.
Released online in The Columbia Human Rights Law Review, the narrative has received massive press attention in the last two days. Many in the media have already described the terrible story as a potential answer to Justice Scalia’s famous quip that if the United States ever executed the wrong man, “the innocent’s name would be shouted from the rooftops.”
The details of Carlos DeLuna’s story are far too numerous to fit into a single post, but keep reading for the key plot points. We also spoke with Shawn Crowley, a 2011 Columbia Law graduate and a co-author of the paper. She talked with us about how the project shaped her law school experience, and she gave some suggestions for other students who are looking for a more personal, relationship-based time in law school.
Let’s dig in…
In a very brief nutshell, Los Tocayos Carlos begins on February 4, 1983, when Wanda Lopez, a poor Hispanic single mother, was stabbed to death with a lock-blade buck knife while working at a convenience store in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Carlos DeLuna was convicted of the crime after just an afternoon of jury deliberations. He was executed in December 1989.
The Atlantic does a great job summarizing the basic facts of the case:
Texas convicted and executed DeLuna, all right, despite the fact that there was no blood or DNA evidence linking him to the scene of the crime. The state executed him despite the fact that the only eyewitness to the crime identified DeLuna while the suspect was sitting in the back of a police car parked in a dimly lit lot in front of the crime scene. Texas executed him despite the lack of DeLuna’s fingerprints at the crime scene and the lack of the victim’s hair and fibers on DeLuna. From a bloody scene, there was nothing.
Texas convicted and executed DeLuna despite the fact that the police and prosecutors knew or should have known that Lopez’s real murderer was a man named Carlos Hernandez, a violent criminal who looked almost exactly like DeLuna. Why? Because Hernandez was known to use the sort of knife used as the murder weapon. Because he matched initial descriptions of the suspect. Because he was known to be violent toward women. Oh, and because he evidently couldn’t stop bragging about how he had murdered Lopez and gotten someone else to take the fall for him.
The Atlantic piece, entitled “Yes, America, We Have Executed an Innocent Man,” also does a good job explaining the national implications of the story:
The Review article is an astonishing blend of narrative journalism, legal research, and gumshoe detective work. And it ought to end all reasonable debate in this country about whether an innocent man or woman has yet been executed in America since the modern capital punishment regime was recognized by the Supreme Court in 1976.
Los Tocayos Carlos fills 400 pages and contains several thousand footnotes. The official website for the project contains dozens of original source documents, including audio from the 911 call immediately preceding the murder, crime scene photos, and video footage of witness and family interviews. To say it is impressive would be a gross understatement.
(For what it’s worth, this is at least the second time in recent history that Texas has caught major national heat for its use of capital punishment. In 2009, the New Yorker published a lengthy story about Cameron Todd Willingham, another potentially wrongfully convicted and executed man. Do we see a trend yet?)
I can name at least 5 people I’m pretty sure have been executed in the U.S. while being innocent.
And yet half of the country doesn’t see a problem with this. That’s the real crime.
![thedailywhat:
Shepard Fairey Piece of the Day: Ebony magazine commissioned street artist Shepard Fairey (of Obeyand HOPE fame) to create artwork of the late Trayvon Martin to accompany a piece in this month’s issue. Fairey writes:
I have followed Trayvon’s case closely and I think any compassionate human being can relate to Trayvon as a brother or son and would want to see a thorough investigation into the killing of an unarmed person. In my portrait I wanted to emphasize Trayvon’s humanity as well as the public outcry for a just investigation into his death.
[twbe]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4i385bWvC1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Shepard Fairey Piece of the Day: Ebony magazine commissioned street artist Shepard Fairey (of Obeyand HOPE fame) to create artwork of the late Trayvon Martin to accompany a piece in this month’s issue. Fairey writes:
I have followed Trayvon’s case closely and I think any compassionate human being can relate to Trayvon as a brother or son and would want to see a thorough investigation into the killing of an unarmed person. In my portrait I wanted to emphasize Trayvon’s humanity as well as the public outcry for a just investigation into his death.[twbe]
You can’t drive a knife into a man’s back nine inches, pull it out six inches, and call it progress.
On January 12, 2010, one day after his 18th birthday, CAPA High School honors student Jordan Trent Miles was ambushed by three plain clothes Pittsburgh police officers, who failed to identify themselves and approached him aggressively. The officers did not say “Stop! Police!”, they jumped out of an unmarked vehicle, one of them yelling “Where’s your money? Where’s the drugs? Where’s the gun?” Miles, never before in trouble with the police and thinking he was being robbed, began to run, and slipped on the icy sidewalk. The officers overtook Miles and administered a brutal beating that left him unrecognizable, ripping dreadlocks out of his head, and continuing to beat him as he lay on the ground after their initial assault, stammering the Lord’s Prayer. There can be no explaining away or excusing what was done to Miles.
The police officers lied about what happened, claiming there was a bulge in his pocket they assumed was a gun but “turned out to be a Mountain Dew bottle”. No bottle was ever entered into evidence, and Jordan and his friends will tell you he doesn’t even drink the soda. The officers also attempted to claim a neighbor reported him as a prowler and attempted to bring assault charges against Miles, which were tossed out of court when the neighbor said she did no such thing. Despite all this, the City of Pittsburgh went on to reward these violent officers with a commendation and, during their suspension, paid them more than they earned while working. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh DA has not brought charges and the Justice Department announced on May 4th, 2011 that it would not prosecute the three officers. The mayor and police chief announced on May 5th that the three officers would be returning to work.
“I feel that my son was racially profiled,” Terez Miles said. “It’s a rough neighborhood; it was after dark. … They assumed he was up to no good because he’s black. My son, he knows nothing about the streets at all. He’s had a very sheltered life, he’s very quiet, he doesn’t know police officers sit in cars and stalk people like that.”
this is exactly what i’m talking about.
look at the pathetic amount of notes on this. why can’t this get coverage? i don’t give a shit about another missing white girl.
Omg :-/
It’s a sad fact, but for every Trayvon Martin, where the nation rises up and cries for justice, there a dozens of Jordan Miles and Marissa Alexanders. Jordan needs justice, but we can’t stop with having the police officers who assaulted him jailed. Our society needs to change. We need to stop seeing black men and thinking “criminal,” we need to stop seeing black women and thinking “it was her own fault.”
Whaddya know? Romney’s lies debunked by that librul rag, The Wall Street Journal.
We need feminism
because my sister should NOT be made to feel ashamed of herself for wearing an outfit she loves (a pale blue button-up with a burgundy bow tie and suspenders, as inspired by her favorite television show Doctor Who) simply because her ignorant peers deem such an attire to be “gay”.
I think it’s degrading to women to say porn is inherently degrading to women. Of course, not all women choose porn out of desire or free agency, and especially during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we should be cognizant of this fact and the institutional factors that make it so. But many women consume and/or participate in porn actively and frequently, with enjoyment and discerning ethics. Discounting our participation erases our sexual agency and restricts our free sexual expression.
legitimate criticisms of feminism:
-transmisogyny and the lack of inclusion of transwomen
-the racist history behind it and the lack of inclusion of women of color
-ignoring and invalidating women with disabilities
-pretty much anything that falls under lack of intersectionality
-internalized misogyny and girl hate
-promotion of political lesbianism
-radscum
illegitimate criticisms of feminism:
-a feminist was really mean to me once
-they’re sexist against men
