"Lezmond Mitchell's Execution: A Betrayal of Tribal Sovereignty"

The United States federal government is set to execute Lezmond Mitchell, a 38-year-old Navajo citizen, on August 26, despite the strong opposition of the Navajo Nation and its president, vice president, and legislative branch. This case is a profound insult to Navajo sovereignty, as the federal government has consistently ignored the tribe's objections to capital punishment and its commitment to resolving intra-Indian crimes through tribal courts. Lezmond Mitchell was convicted of killing a woman and her granddaughter, both Navajo people, in 2001, but the case is marred by allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, including the use of coerced confessions and the exclusion of Native American jurors.

Key Takeaways:

• Lezmond Mitchell is the only American Indian under a federal death sentence, with an execution date set for August 26.
• The Navajo Nation opposes capital punishment for all its people, including Mitchell, and has formally petitioned the federal government not to subject him to a death sentence.
• The federal government has circumvented tribal objection to capital punishment by prosecuting Mitchell for a crime of general federal jurisdiction, despite tribal opposition to the death penalty.
• The case involves allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, including the use of coerced confessions and the exclusion of Native American jurors.
• Mitchell's co-defendant, a juvenile at the time of the crime, received a life sentence for the same offense, highlighting the disparity in treatment between Native American and non-Native American defendants.
• Mitchell's tragic life story is all too familiar to Native Americans, with a history of intergenerational trauma, addiction, and mental illness.
• The Navajo Nation has long recognized the sovereignty of tribal nations, including the right to practice self-government and handle intra-Indian criminal matters.
• The United States is taking stock of its history of racial injustice and the many traumas perpetrated against American Indians, with the Supreme Court acknowledging and reaffirming tribal sovereignty in Oklahoma.

Statistics:

• There have been at least 20 other instances of murder on tribal land where the Justice Department considered a capital prosecution, but did not pursue a death sentence due to tribal opposition.
• The federal government has circumvented tribal objections to capital punishment in at least 20 cases.
• Lezmond Mitchell was held in a tribal jail for 25 days without access to a lawyer and subject to F.B.I. interrogation, and his alleged confession was not tape-recorded.

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