Why Won’t the U.S. Acknowledge Tribal Rule in Its Death Penalty Decisions?
A blatant disregard of tribal sovereignty is making for a tension-filled standoff
Last week, Attorney General William Barr announced that the Justice Department will resume the practice of putting federal death row inmates to death for the first time since 2003.
Five men have since been scheduled for execution. One of those named is Lezmond Mitchell, a member of the Navajo Nation.
He was convicted on 11 counts surrounding the brutal slayings of Alyce Slim, 63, and her nine-year-old granddaughter, Tiffany Lee, also Navajo, in 2001. Mitchell, then 20, and Johnny Orsinger, 16, killed Slim by stabbing her 33 times. They slit the little girl’s throat twice. When she didn’t die, Orsinger dropped heavy rocks on her head. The men attempted to cover up their crimes by decapitating the victims, burying their heads and hands, and setting fire to their belongings. Mitchell was in Slim’s truck with two other men when they robbed the Red Rock Trading Post three days later. The murders, along with other crimes Mitchell was convicted of, happened on Navajo tribal land.
What’s alarming to me, as a Native woman, tribal attorney, and former tribal judge who advocates for the rights of Indigenous peoples and…
