A federal judge is campaigning for the release of Dana Deegan, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota who was convicted for the death of her newborn son.

Deegan was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Judge Myron Bright of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said she wouldn't have faced the same punishment if the crime were committed off the reservation.

“This is an injustice under the law,” Bright said at a forum on Indian justice issues, the Associated Press reported. “So now is the time for all of us in the system to take a hard look at it and right a wrong and try to get justice for Dana Deegan.”

Deegan has about four years left in her sentence. Bright said he has been asking the Obama administration for clemency and to examine the disparity in sentencing for Indian defendants.

Get the Story:
Federal judge fights for release of N.D. American Indian woman (The Grand Forks Herald 10/15)
Native woman's sentence unjust, N.D. judge says (AP 10/16)

8th Circuit Decision:
US v. Deegan (May 25, 2010)

Related Stories:
Appeals court upholds 10-year sentence for infant's death (5/26)