Abstract This Essay responds to the execution of Lezmond Mitchell, the only American Indian on federal death row. The execution was carried out on August 26, 2020 over the objection of both members of the victims’ family and the Navajo Nation. This Essay takes the clear position that because the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 requires tribal consent to seek the death penalty for murder, or...
Reversal Rates in Capital Cases in Texas, 2000–2020
A death row inmate who challenges either his conviction or sentence in postconviction proceedings can be said to succeed if he obtains either a new guilt-phase trial, a new sentencing-phase trial, or a commutation of his death sentence. This Article reports on the success rates of death row inmates in Texas for those who arrived on death row on or after January 1, 2000, up until December 31, 2019...