Articles in this Issue

1. Affiliate News

   What events are NACDL affiliates hosting this month? Find out here.

   Jessica Stepan

2. Book Review: Surrender by Katherine Ann Power

   This month Susan Elizabeth Reese reviews Surrender: My Journey from Guerrilla to Grandmother by Katherine Ann Power.

   Susan Elizabeth Reese

3. Book Review: V13 by Emmanuel Carrère

   This month Russell Stetler reviews V13: Chronicle of a Trial by Emmanuel Carrère.

   Russell Stetler

4. Client Issues & Ethics: The ABA on Confidentiality and Listservs

   In May 2024, the American Bar Association issued a formal opinion on the “Confidentiality Obligations of Lawyers Posting to Listservs.” The opinion does not break any new ground, but it applies long-standing principles about the duty of confidentiality in a way that might surprise defense lawyers.

   Amy Richardson and Mark D. Davis

5. Defending Doctors in a Post-Ruan World: The Battle Over Jury Instructions

   Did the Ruan case drastically change how the government enforces the Controlled Substances Act? Jurors are no longer instructed to consider physicians’ subjective “good faith” in prescribing controlled substances that are then billed to health care benefit programs. Physicians must pivot and argue for other instructional safeguards to protect themselves against conviction.

   Ronald W. Chapman II and Matthew Pelcowitz

6. Digital Age & Practice: Technology — Best Supporting Actor, Not the Star

   Technology has a place in courtrooms. However, technology should be considered verbal support, not a verbal substitute.

   Gregory J. Morse

7. Dunning-Kruger and the Law: Lawyers’ Overconfidence in Their Scientific Abilities

   Allows Junk Science to Pervert Justice

   Judges and lawyers do not understand the basic principles and methods of science, but they think they do. Is there a way to rectify their deficiencies?

   Demosthenes Lorandos and Melissa Blevins

8. Evidence in DUI Marijuana Cases

   Defending DUI marijuana cases requires fighting the notion that a positive marijuana blood test, or the admission of recent marijuana use alone, is evidence of impairment. Because no valid test exists, toxicologists cannot testify that a specific amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in a suspect’s blood is associated with being impaired by marijuana and renders a driver unable to drive safely.

   Robert H. Hanaford and Michelle L. Behan

9. From the President: Our Time

   Defense lawyers are the only advocates in the legal arena positioned to take a stand against the erosion of the last vestiges of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments.

   Christopher A. Wellborn

10. Litigation Unfolds After Pres. Orders BOP to Move Transgender Women Incarcerated in Federal Prisons

    On his first day in office, the president signed an Executive Order that directed the Bureau of Prisons to move transgender women housed in female facilities to men's prisons and cease funding any gender-affirming medical care for inmates. Within a week, litigation was underway.

    Sonya Pfeiffer and Lindsay A. Lewis

11. Mastering Prompt Engineering: Advanced Techniques in AI-Powered Criminal Defense

    Advanced prompt engineering strategies can increase the effectiveness of artificial intelligence. For example, a defense lawyer can employ prompts to create a bulleted list that serves as a reference tool when formulating an argument for presentation before a judge or jury.

    Patrick T. Barone

12. NACDL News: Victor Sherman and Stanley Greenberg Receive Award at Aspen Seminar

    NACDL News for March/April 2025

    NACDL