NACDL - January/February 2019

A Handful of ACEs: Another Approach Under § 3553(a)

Lawyers encounter a substantial number of people who have suffered from a high number of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) that resulted in maladaptive risk behaviors and influenced the commission of the client’s offense conduct. Since lawyers are unrestricted in the information they can present to the court during sentencing under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and 18 U.S.C. § 3661, David Savitz urges advocates to become familiar with the ACEs Study. When using an ACEs approach, the attorney is not offering an excuse for the defendant’s conduct, but rather an explanation of it.

Affiliate News

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

Book Review: 51 Imperfect Solutions by Jeffrey S. Sutton

This month Ivan J. Dominguez reviews 51 Imperfect Solutions by Jeffrey S. Sutton.

Book Review: Butterfly in the Rain by James L. Neibaur

This month Matthew T. Mangino reviews Butterfly in the Rain by James L. Neibaur.

Book Review: Invisible by Stephen L. Carter

This month Gabriel Reyes reviews Invisible by Stephen L. Carter.

Book Review: The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Hinton

This month Michael H. Fox reviews The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton.

Bright Spots in Public Defense: The Colorado Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel

This article describes the history, function and evolution of Colorado’s statewide conflict counsel agency, the Colorado Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel.

Cross Country: Unpacking the Many Deceptions Inside a Single Lie

Initially, the witness gives a false story: “I was eating pizza with my cousin.” But now the witness says the truth is that he was with defense counsel’s client — robbing a store. Lawyers sometimes mistakenly believe that the payoff is the admission of the untruthful statement. The big payoff, Larry Pozner explains, is something deeper.

From the President: Location, Location, Location: Just as in Real Estate, for Cooperating Defendants

Do criminal practitioners truly understand what substantial assistance means? Does a motion made by the government under U.S.S.G. § 5k1.1 mean the same thing in Georgia as it means in Texas? What about between districts in the same state? A thorough analysis of the publicly available data maintained by the Sentencing Commission begins to tell a tale of vast differences in the way cooperation is treated nationwide.

Inside NACDL: Rooting Out Bias: How a Bad Stop Can Make Good Law

A dubious traffic stop of a young man in Vermont provided a unique opportunity for NACDL to further its mission to redress systemic racism in the criminal justice system. In February 2018, NACDL submitted an amicus brief in the Vermont Supreme Court urging the court to find an implied right of action under Article 11 of the Vermont Constitution to permit an action against the State for damages and declaratory relief to challenge an unlawful stop based on racial bias.