Entries tagged with “Lezmond Mitchell”
Facts & Research
History of the Death Penalty
,United States Supreme Court
,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
,Mental Illness
,Race
,United States Supreme Court
,Native Americans
,Women
,Federal Death Penalty
,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
,Native Americans
,Federal Death Penalty
,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
,Federal Death Penalty
,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
,Federal Death Penalty
,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
,Victims' Families
,Upcoming Executions
,Native Americans
,Federal Death Penalty
,Jul 30, 2020
Over Tribal Objection, U.S. Government Sets New Execution Date for Sole Native American on Federal Death Row
The U.S. government has set an August 26, 2020 execution date for the sole Native American on federal death row, against the wishes of his tribe, the victims’ family, and the local U.S. Attorney’s office that prosecuted the…
Policy Issues
Race
,Native Americans
,Federal Death Penalty
,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
,Federal Death Penalty
,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
,Upcoming Executions
,Lethal Injection
,Federal Death Penalty
,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
,Lethal Injection
,Federal Death Penalty
,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
,Federal Death Penalty
,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…