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WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2003

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. on Tuesday said he wants the tribe to reconsider its blanket opposition to the death penalty.

Citing a recent violent crime wave, Shirley believes the Navajo Nation council should revisit whether the tribe should opt in to the death penalty. "Criminals who commit depraved and heinous murders don't deserve to be among society," Shirley said in a statement. "I leave it up to the powers that be and what they will do with convicted murderers."

The tribe has historically opposed the death penalty. In a recent case involving the brutal murder of a woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter, the Navajo Department of urged against the death penalty.

Shirley said the Navajo council should resume discussion of the death penalty issue. "Public hearings should include the family of the victims, law enforcement officers, Navajo Nation prosecutors, and medicine men as this is a public safety issue that overlaps into traditional Navajo way of life," he said.

Relevant Links:
Navajo Nation - http://www.navajo.org

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