January/February 2021
What should be the key components of a court order concerning a prosecutor’s Brady obligations? What can defense lawyers do to improve alibi defenses?
Articles in this Issue
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Affiliate News
What events are NACDL affiliates hosting this month? Find out here.
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Alibi Defenses: Millstone or Key to the Jailhouse Door?
What can defense lawyers do to improve alibi defenses?
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Book Review: In Hoffa's Shadow by Jack Goldsmith
This month Gabriel Reyes reviews In Hoffa’s Shadow: A Stepfather, a Disappearance in Detroit, and My Search for the Truth by Jack Goldsmith.
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Creative Voir Dire in DUI Trials
Using scaled questions is one method of jury selection questioning that allows the lawyer to learn how strongly a juror feels about a concept or defense. What are scaled questions? What kinds of scaled questions can be asked in a DUI trial?
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From the President: It Is Time to Abolish the Federal Death Penalty
Public sentiment continues to turn in favor of abolishing the death penalty. The death penalty remains a national embarrassment. It is racist, classist, and anachronistic.
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Getting Scholarship Into Court Project
The “Getting Scholarship Into Court Project” brings helpful law review articles and other writings to the attention of criminal defense attorneys. The project’s purpose is to identify scholarship that will be especially useful to courts and practitioners. Summarized on this page are articles the project’s advisory board recommends that practicing lawyers take the time to read. To recommend articles for this column, contact Professor Jenny Carroll (jcarroll@law.ua.edu).
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Inside NACDL: Clemency Reform Should Include Access to Clemency Counsel
Until the Sixth Amendment is understood to provide a right to clemency counsel or legislatures provide for counsel at this stage of the legal process, few avenues exist to secure the assistance of counsel for those with limited resources. People with sufficient income will hire lawyers to help them, but everyone should have the same opportunity.
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NACDL News: New Report Calls on Federal Bureau of Prisons Stop Monitoring Confidential Legal Emails
NACDL News for January/February 2021
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NACDL News: Organizations Call for Legal and Detention Systems to Be COVID-19 Vaccination Priority
NACDL News for January/February 2021
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NACDL News: White House Commutes Sentences of Individuals Punished for Exercising Right to Trial
NACDL News for January/February 2021
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NACDL Releases Model Order Pursuant to the Due Process Protections Act
The amended Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 5 requires that in all criminal proceedings, at the first scheduled court date at which both the prosecutor and defense counsel are present, the judge must issue an order confirming the prosecutor’s disclosure obligations under Brady v. Maryland. Defense lawyers should consider NACDL’s Model Standing Order on the Prosecution’s Brady Obligations.
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Three Faces of Eyewitness Psychology and Expert Testimony
With increasing frequency since the 1970s, psychologists have been admitted as expert witnesses to educate factfinders about the many facets of eyewitness memory. The authors provide an overview of three distinct topics about which eyewitness experts typically testify: eyewitness identification, repressed memory, and child witnesses.
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Two Steps Backward, First Step Forward
Evolution of Federal Drug Sentencing to Compassionate Release
For John Bailey, achieving justice involved a long journey on both straight and winding roads with many obstacles along the way. But trying as it may have been, the odyssey ended by arriving at the sweetest of destinations – freedom.
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White Collar Crime Policy: Beneficial Ownership Provisions Become Law in Defense Spending Act
A law passed in 2020 requires small businesses to file a report listing their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at a date to be determined after FinCEN has issued implementing regulations. The law does not apply to companies that have more than 20 employees or have more than $5 million in annual gross receipts.