Amicus Briefs Filed in 2004

The Amicus Curiae Committee’s mission is to provide amicus assistance on the federal and state level in those cases that present issues of importance to criminal defendants, criminal defense lawyers, and/or the criminal justice system as a whole. Membership in NACDL is not a prerequisite either for amicus assistance from the Committee, or for authorship of an NACDL amicus brief.

 

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Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (Hamdan I)

NACDL amicus curiae brief in support of petitioner-appellee Salim Ahmed Hamdan. Military commissions created by Respondents are incompatible with the express or implied will of Congress. Constitutionally, there is no “inherent” Presidential authority to create these military commissions and challenge to their jurisdiction via habeas corpus has long been recognized in our military law.

Medellin v. Dretke

Amici curiae brief.

Merits Reply Brief of Appellant Martha Stewart

Testimonial co-defendant statement (Crawford hearsay) issues; perjury by government expert witness; more.

Roper v. Simmons

Amici Curiae brief: The joint brief argues that evolving standards of decency now make it clear that imposition of the death penalty on an individual who commits a murder at age 17 is cruel and unusual in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Also: Amicus Curiae brief, USSupCt., No. 03-633. Human Rights Committee of the Bar of England and Wales, et al.

Shepard v. United States

NACDL amicus curiae brief arguing that (I) Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998) was wrongly decided, has been eroded by subsequent cases, and should be overruled, and (II) in the alternative, the Court should reverse and clarify that the government bears the burden of proving prior convictions through reliable evidence that reflects adversarial testing.