Lewis & Clark Law Review
First Page
649
Abstract
Capital punishment is controversial in American society. It is the junction where moral standards and punishment for the most severe crimes crash together head on. As society has evolved, so have the expectations, requirements, and norms for capital punishment. In the history of the United States, capital punishment, commonly referred to as the death penalty, has been plagued with continuous inequalities. Based on the evolving standards of decency that shift as society matures, certain practices affiliated with the death penalty have now been invalidated as cruel and unusual. One of the most concerning flaws surrounding the death penalty is its unequal and disproportionate application to people of color. The inequalities of the death penalty have resurfaced in society’s discussion of the criminal justice system in the wake of the racial justice reckoning that exploded after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The morality of the death penalty has also been called into question in response to Attorney General William Barr’s announcement in July 2019 that the federal government would restart federal executions. Between Barr’s announcement and President Joseph Biden’s inauguration, the federal government executed 13 people. In Attorney General Barr’s initial announcement, five inmates were named to be executed. Lezmond Mitchell was one of the five initially named defendants. He was the only Native American on federal death row. Lezmond Mitchell was executed on August 26, 2020, by lethal injection. His sentencing and execution raise attention to the tumultuous, historically oppressive, and tarnished relationship between the federal government and the Native American Tribes. His execution stands as a symbol for the disregard the federal government has continuously practiced regarding tribal sovereignty and the related promises that it has made to the tribes. Mitchell’s execution also elucidates the crossing point between unequal racial practices within the criminal justice system, criminal jurisdiction, and criminal justice under Federal Indian Law, and the loopholes the federal government has implemented in order to strip tribes of their sovereignty.
Recommended Citation
Mary Margaret L. Kirchner,
The Execution of Lezmond Mitchell: An Analysis of Federal Indian Law, Criminal Jurisdiction, and the Death Penalty as Applied to Native Americans,
25
Lewis & Clark L. Rev.
649
(2021).
Available at:
https://lawcommons.lclark.edu/lclr/vol25/iss2/9