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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Rene Valladares provides a roadmap for identifying and developing strategies for the evidence issues all defense lawyers face – including a framework to addressing relevance/prejudice, character/bad acts, privileges, opinion testimony, and more!
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Statement from the Nation’s Criminal Defense Bar on the Killing of Tyre Nichols – Washington DC (Jan. 28, 2023) – In the wake of the brutal killing of Tyre Nichols at the hand of the Memphis police, NACDL leaders issued the following statements.
For more than a year, NACDL has examined Maine’s public defense system, providing technical assistance to MCILS under a grant from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. ... As the nation’s preeminent criminal defense bar, NACDL is keenly interested in ensuring public defense providers have caseloads that are reasonable and allow them to fulfill their legal, ethical, and constitutional obligations.
"Slavery by Another Name": Nation’s Criminal Defense Bar Decries Louisiana’s Prisons, Which Force Individuals to Work at Hard Labor Past Their Release Dates – Washington, DC (Jan. 27, 2023) – The Justice Department recently released a blistering report on its investigation into the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (LDOC) and their practice of violating the due process rights of incarcerated individuals sentenced to hard labor by overdetaining them for months beyond their scheduled release dates.
NACDL's staff is committed to the association's mission and to serving the association's membership.
The “Getting Scholarship Into Court Project” brings helpful law review articles and other writings to the attention of criminal defense attorneys. The project’s purpose is to identify scholarship that will be especially useful to courts and practitioners. Summarized on this page are articles the project’s advisory board recommends that practicing lawyers take the time to read. To recommend articles for this column, contact Professor Jenny Carroll (jcarroll@law.ua.edu).
Mary Stillinger provides examples to show how defense lawyers can put the heat on a law enforcement officer witness to get the information they need.
What events are NACDL affiliates hosting this month? Find out here.
This month Lara Bazelon reviews Barred: Why the Innocent Can’t Get Out of Prison by Daniel S. Medwed.
This month Susan Elizabeth Reese reviews Trial Lawyer: A Life Representing People Against Power by Richard Zitrin.
This month Maneka Sinha reviews When Innocence Is Not Enough: Hidden Evidence and the Failed Promise of the Brady Rule by Thomas L. Dybdahl.
Nellie L. King writes about a case of apparent judicial indifference to threats against public defenders and their children that occurred during the sentencing phase of a case.
