Renewed War on Drugs, harsher charging policies, stepped-up criminalization of immigrants — in the current climate, joining the NACDL is more important than ever. Members of NACDL help to support the only national organization working at all levels of government to ensure that the voice of the defense bar is heard.
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NACDL is committed to enhancing the capacity of the criminal defense bar to safeguard fundamental constitutional rights.
NACDL harnesses the unique perspectives of NACDL members to advocate for policy and practice improvements in the criminal legal system.
NACDL envisions a society where all individuals receive fair, rational, and humane treatment within the criminal legal system.
NACDL’s mission is to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal legal system, and redressing systemic racism, and ensuring that its members and others in the criminal defense bar are fully equipped to serve all accused persons at the highest level.
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Federal indigent defense on appeal: The First Circuit’s experience Peter B. Krupp, David Beneman
In the wake of the severe cuts to the provision of indigent defense services during sequestration in 2013, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) created a Federal Indigent Defense Task Force to examine the federal indigent defense system. The mission included an assessment of the level of independence afforded to the Office of Defender Services and consideration of whether reforms are necessary to ensure adherence to the ABA’s Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System. [Released September 2015]
I write to you … on behalf of NACDL and the undersigned [leaders] of 26 affiliate associations from 25 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Our members include thousands of attorneys who … believe that access to qualified and properly-resourced counsel is essential to safeguard the rights of the indigent accused. We write to convey our profound concern about the impact of funding cuts on federal indigent defense services, specifically their impact on the thousands of accused persons who depend upon appointed counsel to secure their Sixth Amendment rights.
On behalf of NACDL and its Federal Indigent Task Force, I write to express appreciation to you and the entire Ad Hoc Committee for the opportunity to appear before you at the hearing in Santa Fe and to provide this supplemental submission. … A fundamental recommendation in NACDL’s report on federal public defense was a call for a comprehensive review of the CJA program. The Ad Hoc Committee has conducted such a review, and NACDL commends the Committee for its impressive efforts in soliciting broad input and for the transparency of the hearings and process.
Written testimony of NACDL Past President E.G. "Gerry" Morris on behalf of the Association to the Judicial Conference of the United States Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Criminal Justice Act Program prior to a November 2017 hearing in Santa Fe.
The undersigned organizations are deeply concerned about the devastating impact of sequestration on the federal indigent defense system. Our federal criminal justice system cannot be sustained unless all components – prosecution, judiciary and defense – receive adequate and stable funding. … To avert the crisis, Congress must restore funding to the Defenders Services account.
Criminal Justice Act Form 23 (financial affidavit) is a confidential document. Some judges have concluded that CJA Form 23 should be a public document. Federal public defender Stephen Sady writes that the defense bar should reject any diminishment of the privacy protections in Rule 49.1.
Member Loren Weiss's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts regarding sufficient funding and availability of federal defender offices and CJA attorneys, pursuant to proposals outlined in the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1995 (S. 1101).
President Gerry Morris's letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government regarding ensuring adequate funding and support needed for federal defender services to ensure adequate representation for those who cannot afford it.
Member Richard Kammen's written statement to the House Appropriations Committee regarding adequate funding and training for defender services to ensure adequate representation for those who cannot afford it.
Letter with the National Association of Federal Defenders to members of the Senate regarding concerns for cases in tribal courts as addressed in the proposed Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2012 (S. 1925).
NACDL President Gerald Goldstein's written statement to the Judicial Conference Committee on Long Range Planning regarding the future of the federal courts as laid out in the proposed long-range plan.
NACDL President Judy Clarke's testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary regarding adequate funding for defense services and training at every level to ensure adequate representation for those who cannot afford it.
NACDL President Gerald B. Lefcourt's written statement to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of Commerce, Justice and State, and the Judiciary regarding adequate funding for defense services at every level and other measures to prevent prosecutorial abuse, all addressed in the Citizens Protection Act of 1998 (H.R. 3396).
Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner.
