In less than 10 days the federal government is scheduled to execute the first Native American in modern history.
Against the wishes of his tribe AND in violation of federal law.
Against the wishes of his tribe AND in violation of federal law.
When Congress passed the Federal Death Penalty Act (FDPA) in 1994 it included the “tribal option”, which gave tribes the authority to decide whether or not their citizens could be sentenced to death for crimes committed against other Indians.
Lezmond Mitchell’s tribe Navajo Nation did not give the federal government permission to execute its citizens. But the federal government is planning to do so anyway.
Mitchell was convicted in federal court for a 2001 murder and related crimes. The place where Mr. Mitchell lived and where his crime occurred, the Navajo Nation, is 96 % Navajo. But when he was tried in Phoenix, Arizona, the jury was 92 % white.
The leadership of Navajo Nation is now asking President Trump to commute Mitchell’s sentence to life imprisonment.
drive.google.com/file/d/1ul9bjS…
drive.google.com/file/d/1ul9bjS…
