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Public Defense
On March 18, 1963, in Gideon v. Wainwright, the U.S. Supreme Court laid the foundation for our nation’s public defense system. In their ruling the Court made clear that providing counsel to those facing criminal charges was a “fundamental right, essential to a fair trial.” Today we continue to fight to make the constitutional promises of counsel and of a fair trial realities.
Defense lawyers see the struggles of substance use disorder among their clients. Criminalization of substance use only further exacerabates these struggles for justice impacted individuals. Harm reduction offers a pragmatic public health approach that places the health and dignity of people as the first priority. Learn more about harm reduction practicies and inventions by visiting the link below.
Learn More About Harm Reduction
For a list of harm reduction services in your state, visit this list compiled by our partners at Vital Strategies.
Harm Reduction Resources Directory
Watch: Substance Use, Clients and Cases: Building Bridges & Breaking Barriers
In partnership with WACDL and Vital Strategies, this training series presents a public health approach to substance use among justice-impacted individuals while also exploring how defense lawyers can be effective advocates and champions against the harms of criminalization.
Don’t Gamble With the Future: Immigration Consequences of Drug Convictions
In this article, authors Nicolas Chavez and Ann Miller detail the immigration consequeces of drug charges and emphasize the importance of working together with immigration counsel to strategize ways to mitigate these immigration effects.
Access to The Champion archive is one of many exclusive member benefits. It is normally restricted to just NACDL members. However, in light of the critical importance of this information, we are sharing this content with you for a limited time.
NACDL Store
Check out these products, each providing vital resources to help you on your next drug or mental health related case.
Litigation
Everyone has the right to have a skilled and zealous advocate when they face a criminal accusation. However, in many states and localities people are left waiting months or more to have a lawyer assigned to their case. Through our amicus work and direct litigation, NACDL works to ensure the right to counsel is protected, advocating for the prompt appointment of counsel.
NACDL, in cooperation with WACDL, the NYU Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law, and Winston Strawn has filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin to address the state’s inability to timely provide access to counsel.
Public Defense Scholarships
It is critical to ensure public defense lawyers have access to high quality training. Through generous grant funding, NACDL is able to offer scholarships to help defray the costs of registration and travel. Interested in our scholarship program?
Want to help support training opportunities for public defense lawyers? Make a donation to NACDL’s Foundation for Criminal Justice.
NACDL Awards
NACDL honors individuals and organizations for exceptional efforts in making positive changes to local, county, state, or federal public defense systems with its Champion of Public Defense Award. Past award recepients include The International Legal Foundation and the Legal Aid Society of Puerto Rico’s Juvenile Justice Program
Questions about NACDL's work in Public Defense, contact Director of Public Defense, Bonnie Hoffman.
BHoffman@nacdl.org
@GideonGuardian
