Renewed War on Drugs, harsher charging policies, stepped-up criminalization of immigrants — in the current climate, joining the NACDL is more important than ever. Members of NACDL help to support the only national organization working at all levels of government to ensure that the voice of the defense bar is heard.
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NACDL is committed to enhancing the capacity of the criminal defense bar to safeguard fundamental constitutional rights.
NACDL harnesses the unique perspectives of NACDL members to advocate for policy and practice improvements in the criminal legal system.
NACDL envisions a society where all individuals receive fair, rational, and humane treatment within the criminal legal system.
NACDL’s mission is to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal legal system, and redressing systemic racism, and ensuring that its members and others in the criminal defense bar are fully equipped to serve all accused persons at the highest level.
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The U.S. government launders the original source of evidence in criminal cases in a practice known as “parallel construction.” In order to keep certain investigative activity hidden, agents simply arrange for an alternate evidentiary path. This practice allows the government to obscure secret surveillance technologies and programs or potentially illegal investigative methods from those accused in criminal cases, and the public at large. This webinar will educate members of the defense community about the practice of "parallel construction" and prepare them to fight it in the courtroom.
This webinar draws from legal and technological expertise to ensure that the defense community is prepared to challenge hacking as an investigative technique. The webinar also addresses the technological aspects of government hacking and the changes to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that open the door to wider use of government hacking.
Confession cases are some of the most difficult to defend; juries, judges prosecutors and even some criminal defense lawyers often believe that only guilty people confess to crimes. The Brendan Dassey case, shown in the Netflix Documentary "Making A Murderer" has highlighted the problem of coerced and false confessions. In the webinar we focus on both suppressing confessions and persuading juries that confessions are false.
Most considerations of “criminal competency” are limited to questions of capacity to stand trial. Occasionally, issues of guilty pleas and ability to go pro se are also considered. And these are all critically important (and profoundly underconsidered). But there are multiple other questions of “criminal competency” that defense lawyers must know about and take seriously if they are to provide effective counsel. Also, within the general subject matter areas of trial and pro se status, there are embedded issues to which not nearly enough attention is paid.
Race Data Matters: Using Expert Testimony and Social Science Data about Discriminatory Policing to Win Pretrial Motions: Part II presented by Alison Siegler, Clinical Law Professor, University of Chicago Law School
Race Matters I: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice September 14-15, 2017 | Detroit, MI
Join us for an in-depth Supreme Court term review designed specifically for criminal defense attorneys. We examine significant decisions from the 2023 term, their implications, emerging trends in Supreme Court jurisprudence, and preview cases on the docket for the 2024 term.
NACDL is pleased to submit our comments with respect to the proposed changes to Federal Rule of Evidence 609(a)(1). … Our members have substantial experience with the challenges created by Rule 609 and have submitted amicus briefs before the Oregon Supreme Court and Supreme Court of the State of Washington related to the state counterparts of Rule 609’s impact on the people in each jurisdiction. In line with our dedication to advancing the proper, efficient, and just administration of justice, we would like to offer the following comments on the proposed change to Rule 609(a)(1).
Misunderstood & Underused: The Rules of Evidence You're Missing Pt II [Engage & Exchange Discussion] (featuring Cheryl D. Stein)
Misunderstood & Underused: The Rules of Evidence You're Missing Pt I [Engage & Exchange Discussion]
The decades-long war on drugs distorted evidence law in drugs and guns cases leaving it littered with landmines for defense lawyers. This presentation will provide an approach for tackling the pervasive challenges defense lawyers face in drugs and guns cases such as co-conspirator statements, prior bad acts, and questionable government expert evidence.
This month Cuauhtemoc Ortega reviews A Defender’s Guide to Federal Evidence: A Trial Practice Handbook for Criminal Defense Attorneys by Rene L. Valladares.
A thorough understanding of Crawford and Bruton issues is crucial for criminal defense lawyers. The Confrontation Clause area, however, can seem daunting and riddled with contradictory Supreme Court decisions. This presentation demystifies Crawford and Bruton and provides defense lawyers a clear and systematic method of tackling Confrontation Clause issues.
To combat questionable prosecution “expert” evidence, defense lawyers need to have a thorough understanding of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and companion rules. This presentation provides practitioners with a framework for Article VII (Opinions and Expert Testimony) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, summarizes defense favorable cases, and presents arguments and tips on how to spot and avoid the most common ways the prosecution abuses expert testimony. This area is of vital importance now considering the recent amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
Rene Valladares and Hannah Nelson provide a framework for character evidence, an overview of the exceptions and nuances to the general prohibition of character evidence, and an understanding of how the pertinent evidence rules interact with one another.