Entries tagged with “Lezmond Mitchell”

Facts & Research

History of the Death Penalty

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United States Supreme Court

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Oct 13, 2023

New Legal Research Declares ​“Heightened Standards” of Due Process in Capital Cases an ​“Illusion”

In a new law review arti­cle, Professor Anna VanCleave of the University of Connecticut School of Law argues that the ​“height­ened stan­dards” of due process pro­tec­tion for cap­i­tal defen­dants, required under the Eighth Amendment, are in prac­tice no more than ​“a veneer of legit­i­ma­cy and pro­ce­dur­al cau­tion” that fail to vin­di­cate defen­dants’ rights. Professor VanCleave found that in the absence of clear guid­ance from the Supreme Court as to the actu­al mean­ing of ​“height­ened stan­dards,” lower…

Policy Issues

Intellectual Disability

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Mental Illness

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Race

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United States Supreme Court

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Native Americans

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Women

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Federal Death Penalty

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Jan 18, 2021

‘This is Not Justice’ — Federal Execution Spree Ends with Planned Execution of African-American on Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday

An his­tor­i­cal­ly aber­rant six-month fed­er­al exe­cu­tion spree came to a close after mid­night on January 16, 2021 when an African-American man who was sched­uled to die on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.​’s birth­day was put to death by pri­vate exe­cu­tion­ers hired in a secret no-bid…

Facts & Research

United States Supreme Court

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Native Americans

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Federal Death Penalty

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Oct 01, 2020

New Podcast: Native American Rights Fund Lawyer Joel Williams on Tribal Sovereignty and the U.S. Death Penalty

In the September 30, 2020 episode of the Discussions With DPIC pod­cast, Native American Rights Fund senior staff attor­ney Joel Williams joins Death Penalty Information Center exec­u­tive direc­tor Robert Dunham for a con­ver­sa­tion about trib­al sov­er­eign­ty, the death penal­ty, and the his­toric U.S. Supreme Court rul­ing in McGirt v.

Executions

Native Americans

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Federal Death Penalty

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Aug 27, 2020

Ignoring Tribal Sovereignty, Federal Government Executes Native American Death-Row Prisoner Lezmond Mitchell

Over the objec­tions of Native American lead­ers across the coun­try, the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment on August 26, 2020 exe­cut­ed Lezmond Mitchell (pic­tured), the sole Native-American pris­on­er on fed­er­al death row. Mitchell, a Navajo cit­i­zen, became the first Native American exe­cut­ed by the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment for a crime com­mit­ted against a mem­ber of his own tribe on tribal…

Death Row

Native Americans

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Federal Death Penalty

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Aug 20, 2020

As Courts Deny Execution Challenges, Native Americans Nationwide Call for Clemency for Federal Death-Row Prisoner Lezmond Mitchell

As fed­er­al courts in Washington, D.C. and California declined to halt the exe­cu­tion of Lezmond Mitchell, the National Congress of American Indians, thir­teen trib­al gov­ern­ments, and more than 230 mem­bers from more than 90 U.S. tribes joined Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez in ask­ing President Donald Trump to com­mute the death sen­tence of the sole Native American on fed­er­al death row. Native-American commentators also…

Policy Issues

Race

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Native Americans

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Federal Death Penalty

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May 04, 2020

Appeals Court Questions Federal Use of Death Penalty Against Navajo Prisoner, But Turns Down Appeal

In a fed­er­al cap­i­tal case with impli­ca­tions relat­ing to trib­al sov­er­eign­ty, a fed­er­al appeals court has denied a Native-American prisoner’s appeal seek­ing to inves­ti­gate racial bias in his case, while ques­tion­ing the fed­er­al government’s pur­suit of the death penalty against…

Executions

Lethal Injection

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Federal Death Penalty

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Jan 16, 2020

Appeals Court Hears Argument on Injunction that Halted Federal Executions

A three-judge pan­el of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard near­ly two hours of argu­ment on January 15, 2020 in four con­sol­i­dat­ed cas­es that could deter­mine whether the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment will be able to resume exe­cu­tions in 2020. The appeals pan­el — com­posed of Gregory G. Katsas and Neomi Rao, both appoint­ed by President Donald Trump, and David S. Tatel, appoint­ed by for­mer President Bill Clinton — sharply ques­tioned lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and four…

Facts & Research

United States Supreme Court

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Upcoming Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Federal Death Penalty

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Dec 07, 2019

Supreme Court Ruling Halts Scheduled Federal Executions

The United States Supreme Court has denied an appli­ca­tion by the U.S. Department of Justice to lift a fed­er­al court injunc­tion block­ing the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment from car­ry­ing out four exe­cu­tions sched­uled for December 2019 and January 2020. The Court’s unan­i­mous rul­ing, issued Friday evening December 6, ensures that there will be no fed­er­al executions in…

Executions

Upcoming Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Federal Death Penalty

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Nov 21, 2019

Washington District Court Enjoins U.S. Government From Carrying Out Federal Executions

A fed­er­al judge in Washington has issued a pre­lim­i­nary injunc­tion bar­ring the United States gov­ern­ment from car­ry­ing out four exe­cu­tions sched­uled for December 2019 and January 2020. The opin­ion, issued November 20, 2019, tem­porar­i­ly halts the fed­er­al exe­cu­tions pend­ing com­ple­tion of court chal­lenges to the government’s exe­cu­tion process and is a major blow to the Trump administration’s plan to resume car­ry­ing out the fed­er­al death penal­ty after a sixteen-year…

Death Row

Native Americans

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Federal Death Penalty

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Oct 14, 2019

Stay of Execution Granted for Sole Native American on Federal Death Row

A three-judge pan­el of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has grant­ed a stay of exe­cu­tion for fed­er­al death row pris­on­er Lezmond Mitchell to pre­vent the U.S. gov­ern­ment from exe­cut­ing him before the court can review an on-going appeal con­cern­ing pos­si­ble anti-Native American bias in his case. Mitchell, who was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on December 11, 2019, is a mem­ber of the Navajo Nation and the only Native American on fed­er­al death row. His case is one of…