Most American Indian tribes opt out of federal death penalty

In a heinous case on the Navajo Nation, an 11-year-old girl was lured into a van, sexually assaulted and killed. The tribe did not seek to have the man who recently admitted to killing her put to death.

American Indian tribes for decades have been able to tell federal prosecutors if they want a death sentence considered for certain crimes on their land. Nearly all have rejected that option.

Tribes and legal experts say the decision goes back to culture and tradition, past treatment of American Indians and fairness in the justice system.

"Most Indian tribes were mistreated by the United States under past federal policies, and there can be historical trauma in cases associated with the execution of Native people," said Robert Anderson, a University of Washington law professor and a member of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
 

"This allows tribes to at least decide in those narrow circumstances when there should be a federal death penalty or not."

In the Navajo case, Ashlynne Mike's body wasn't found until the next day. Her death in May 2016 renewed discussions there about capital punishment.

Ashlynne's mother has urged the tribe to opt into the death penalty, particularly for crimes that involve children.

The tribe long has objected to putting people to death, saying the culture teaches against taking a human life for vengeance.

For years, Theda New Breast has seen the effects of domestic violence, drug addiction and poverty on her Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. The healer helps those who suffer from the associated trauma. But regardless of the nature of the crime, the 61-year-old is staunchly against capital punishment.

"Our beliefs, that I was raised with, say that no one has a right to take away a life except the Creator. Period," New Breast said. "End of story."

Congress expanded the list of death-penalty eligible crimes in the mid-1990s, allowing tribes to decide if they wanted their citizens subject to the death penalty. Legal experts say they are aware of only one tribe, the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, that has opted in.