NACDL - December 2015

‘And the Hits Just Keep on Coming’ — The Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Conviction for Health

For a health care professional, the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction go beyond licensure problems. The collateral consequences can be more serious than fines and perhaps as serious as prison. As a practical matter, the collateral consequences can prevent a defendant from earning a living in the health care industry. The authors explore the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction for health care professionals so that a defense attorney can advise a client of the potential consequences of a plea.

Robert J. Cochran, Bradley L. Williams, and Sherry A. Fabina-Abney

Affiliate News

Affiliate News for December 2015 Champion.

Gerald Lippert

Book Review: The Eternal Criminal Record

“Every police officer has the power to stigmatize any person with a lifelong arrest record.” Federal and state repositories hold criminal records on over a quarter of the U.S. adult population. They often lack accuracy, clarity, and completeness. About half of FBI rap sheets contain no disposition content. By 2014, only half the states had unified computer-searchable court records. Very few have information on the disposition of criminal cases online. Created for virtually every arrest, regardless of severity or judicial outcome, their publication can have onerous effects.

Rafael Silva

Book Review: The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

From an outsider’s perspective, Jeff Hobbs meticulously crafts a haunting yet honest account of his college roommate’s life story while also managing to explain the grave societal causes for his demise. Robert Peace was not your average molecular biophysics graduate from Yale, and he certainly did not define himself by this accomplishment. Born right outside Newark, N.J., to a hard working mother named Jackie and an engaged albeit drug-dealing father called Skeet, Robert quickly became known by those close to him as a young genius — even as a toddler, his teachers referred to Rob as “the Professor” due to his great intellectual abilities. When Rob was 10 years old, two women were found dead in the same apartment building in which Skeet lived. Poor evidence linked Rob’s beloved father to the scene of the crime; he was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Grace Fording

Capital Cases

Capital litigation attorney Elizabeth Franklin-Best writes that the U.S. Supreme Court’s most recently published death penalty decision, Glossip v. Gross, has become more notable for Justice Breyer’s dissent than for its “reticent journey into the murky wilds of legal injection jurisprudence.” Breyer calls for full reconsideration of the constitutionality of the death penalty as a punishment and offers a road map for challenges going forward. Franklin-Best also discusses other death penalty cases from the 2014-2015 Term as well as the death penalty cases to be argued in the 2015-2016 Term.

Elizabeth Franklin-Best

From the President: Asset Forfeiture — Will the Government Be Given the Power to Deny an Accused the

In Luis v. United States, the government argued that both Caplin & Drysdale and Monsanto should be extended to authorize the pretrial restraint of untainted assets even if this leaves the defendant unable to hire a defense attorney, unless the defendant has assets over and above the amount of the potential fines and restitution that may result from a criminal conviction. However, the pretrial restraint of assets not traceable to criminal wrongdoing simply goes too far.

E.G. Morris

Getting Scholarship Into Court Project

Getting Scholarship Into Court Project December 2015 Champion.

Getting Scholarship Into Court Project

Grassroots Advocacy: Effectively Engaging Your Elected Officials

Individuals and advocacy organizations can take an active role in a state’s legislative process in a number of ways. They can attend legislative events, testify at committee hearings, and meet with elected officials.

Monica Reid

Inside NACDL: The Connection Between the Public Defense System and Other Problems In the Criminal Ju

Mass incarceration and mass prosecution are big problems in the criminal justice system. Norman Reimer offers two solutions.

Norman L. Reimer

Is It Really a Homicide? Working With and Crossing the Pathologist In a Gunshot Case

Gunshot wounds are often the cause of death in homicide cases. Deja Vishny provides some basic information to help defense attorneys examine a homicide case before trial, decide whether they need to retain their own forensic pathologist, and effectively conduct trial cross-examination of the doctor who performed the autopsy.

Deja Vishny

NACDL News: BJA Commences Right To Counsel Campaign

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta delivers the keynote address at the Nov. 10, 2015, launch of the Bureau of Justice Assistance-led “Right to Counsel National Campaign,” an initiative that brings together a consortium of justice system stakeholders who will address the challenges faced in providing adequate public defense services to defendants unable to afford an attorney. “The right to counsel embodies our nation’s founding ideal that justice must remain immune from the inequalities that pervade other areas of society,” Gupta said. “It encompasses the undeniable truth that in our Constitution, before our courts and under our laws, all citizens are equal.” NACDL is a member of the steering committee of the Right to Counsel Campaign. NACDL President E.G. “Gerry” Morris and NACDL Executive Norman L. Reimer also spoke at the launch event.