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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This training program will aid those working to defend persons accused of homicide in drug-related overdose deaths. Each section of the program focuses on a different aspect of these cases. CLE is not available for this program.
Recent legislative changes to Virginia Code 16.1-272 give the judiciary greater guidance and discretion in sentencing youth convicted of felony offenses in Virginia. This program features an overview of the blended sentencing provisions for juveniles transferred to circuit court followed by a discussion of the new sentencing provisions passed earlier this year.
This webinar is a rapid-fire overview of the compassionate release legal framework, the process, best practices, and the latest legal developments. Practitioners in the field and long-time experts discuss grounds for compassionate release including COVID-19 and other sentencing developments; the compassionate release exhaustion requirement; getting and analyzing clients’ medical records; how to strategize when filing motions outside of your home district; helping create a reentry plan; and dealing with detainers.
A key pillar of the First Step Act, a bipartisan federal criminal reform bill signed into law in December 2018, was the creation of a risk and needs assessment tool for federal prisoners. In July 2019, the Department of Justice first published this tool, the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (“PATTERN”) and began using it to place prisoners in recidivism reduction programming and award certain benefits. This webinar discusses the origins of PATTERN as well as the many questions that remain about its design and implementation, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because the full implications of First Step Act measures may not be immediately apparent, NACDL hosted a live webinar on January 29, 2019. Sentencing expert Amy Baron-Evans discusses the ins and outs of the new law, with emphasis on potentially overlooked aspects of the most significant provisions. Amy is the Sentencing Resource Counsel for the Federal Public and Community Defenders, and the go-to lawyer among federal defenders for difficult sentencing questions.
Long underused and unfairly applied by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal compassionate release is seeing a revival under the First Step Act. That law not only corrected many of the flaws in the way the BOP handled compassionate release requests, but allows prisoners direct access to the courts. The new law clarifies the broad range of circumstances related to age, illness, and family circumstances that might trigger eligibility for relief and further opens up exciting new opportunities to seek reconsideration of sentences that are no longer appropriate for a variety of other reasons.
Funded by a grant from Vital Strategies, NACDL hosted Defending Drug Overdose Homicides in Pennsylvania. This day-long program featured local and national speakers sharing insights and understandings regarding the complexities of drug overdose homicide prosecutions.
Panelists: Stephanie Woodard, Solicitor General, Hall County, Georgia; Dave LaBahn, President and CEO, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys; Honorable Shawn LaGrua, Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia Moderator: Dr. Divine Pryor, Executive Director, The Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions
Shattering the Shackles of Collateral Consequences: Exploring Moral Principles and Economic Innovations to Restore Rights and Opportunity NACDL’s 17th Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference and 2nd Annual Presidential Summit | August 23-25, 2018 | Atlanta, GA
Presented by Nicole Porter, Director of Advocacy, The Sentencing Project
Race Matters II: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice January 10-11, 2019 | Los Angeles, CA
Sentencing: Practice presented by Nancy L. McGunn, Deputy Federal Defender, Federal Public Defender Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit)
Race Matters I: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice September 14-15, 2017 | Detroit, MI
Sentencing: Policy presented by Marc Mauer, Executive Director, The Sentencing Project
Collateral Consequences: Practice presented by Amanda David, Assistant Federal Defender, Federal Public Defender of Eastern District New York
This session will focus on “Second Look Sentencing” reforms that seek to provide individuals with the opportunity for resentencing or a sentence reduction after they have served a certain amount of time in prison.
20th Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference August 18-20, 2021 | Held Virtually
This panel will focus on the need to go beyond criminal justice reforms just impacting low-level, nonviolent offenses and explore the current narratives around violent offenses and the need to tackle life and other extreme sentences.
NACDL's 19th Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference August 17-19, 2020 | Held Virtually
Ending mass incarceration will require changing sentencing policies and practices. But where are we now and what impact will COVID-19 have? Learn about varies state sentencing reform efforts, as well as release options during the COVID-19 pandemic and what states can do moving forward as a result of the pandemic.