Native America Calling: The hope for Leonard Peltier

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Wednesday, February 15, 2023

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The hope for Leonard Peltier

As Leonard Peltier enters his 48th year behind bars, his supporters and legal advocates are renewing the push to have him released through whatever means: clemency, pardon, or compassionate release based on his advanced age and declining health.

Seventy-eight-year-old Peltier was first convicted of murdering two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in April 1977. It was a complicated and controversial trial and he has been turned back from every legal challenge and political plea since.

Every change in presidential administrations offers new optimism of a favorable look into his plight. His prominent supporters range from Mother Theresa to Pamela Anderson. His detractors include high-ranking judicial officials and the family of Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash.

Leonard Peltier is serving two life sentences in federal prison for the June 1975 murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He is seen here in June 1992 at the U.S. penitentiary in Leavenworth , Kansas. Photo by Jeffry Scott

Guests on Native America Calling

Today on Native America Calling, we get an update on Peltier’s status in prison and the efforts to maintain justice with:

Ruth Buffalo (enrolled citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation), former North Dakota State Representative and the first Native American woman elected to the North Dakota legislature

Kevin Sharp, former Federal District Court Judge and the pro-bono counsel for Leonard Peltier’s clemency petition

Paul DeMain (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and Ojibwe descendent), journalist and former editor of News from Indian Country