Navajo Nation spans Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico and is known to be the home of the largest American Native tribe. In 1978, the US Supreme Court decided a case called Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, deciding that Indian tribal courts have no criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians. Historically, the Navajo Nation and other tribes have used capital punishment on their own terms. The Navajo Nation's formal court system focuses on restorative, rather than punitive justice. It uses a centuries-old set of traditional laws that guide judges' decisions.

The US government prosecuted Lezmond Mitchell under the Major Crimes Act. His tribe and the victims' families opposed his sentence. Despite that, he faced federal execution, which is proof of the disrespect held by the federal government toward tribal sovereignty.

Typically, the federal government would not provide jurisdiction on crimes committed on tribal land. The federal government has no power there, and the natives cannot be put to death without the consent of the state they belong to. The states' laws must not contradict federal laws. However, in Mitchell's case, that is exactly what happened.

Attorney General John Ashcroft had actively prosecuted the crimes and had asked for the strictest punishment, the death penalty, due to the severity of the crime. The Death Penalty Act had been amended earlier in the same year to include the Major Crimes Act.

This again begs the question, should the Navajo Nation have a more significant say in the justice of criminal affairs? This case proves that changes must be made so that the Navajo Nation can voice its grievances against the criminal justice system. If not, a continuous miscarriage of justice will persist in the USA.