During its 2023-2024 Term, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed criminal penalties for people who are homeless; blocked the ATF’s regulation of bump stocks; ended Chevron deference, a landmark doctrine of administrative review; and decided that U.S. presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for core constitutional acts taken during their tenure in office. Criminal defense lawyers will talk about these cases for years to come.

from Capital Sentencing and the Graham-Miller Resentencing to Sentencing in all Cases

Keynote speakers from the 2020 Presidential Summit and Sentencing Symposium, co-hosted with the Georgetown University Law Center American Criminal Law Review

Panel from the 2020 Presidential Summit and Sentencing Symposium, co-hosted with the Georgetown University Law Center American Criminal Law Review

This month Matthew T. Mangino reviews Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable by Joanna Schwartz.

Brief of Amici Curiae Juvenile Law Center, the Sentencing Project, the Gault Center, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Prison Policy Initiative in Support of Respondents Joao Neves, Keith Nunes, Pablo Ortega, and Mario Monteiro.

Cruel and unusual punishment involves the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain or terror or disgrace “to the dignity of man” and may be invoked as a defense in a criminal case.

S261827 (Cal. Sup. Ct.)

NACDL, et al., filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate Seeking the Immediate and Significant Reduction of County Jail and Juvenile Facility Populations Across the State of California. As explained in the petition, the conditions in these facilities constitute violations of the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment as well as violations of individuals’ Due Process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, in addition to violations of the California Constitution and other state and federal laws.

Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Arkansas Civil Liberties Foundation as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner.

Does a common feature of restitution orders – joint and several liability – violate the Excessive Fines Clause? There is “no general federal right to contribution” between co-defendants under restitution orders. This seemingly creates an Eighth Amendment problem in that a defendant can be held jointly liable for a co-defendant’s restitution yet has no right to collect contribution from the co-defendant.

A Substantial Threat to Civil Rights Claims and a Potentially Fatal Blow to Eighth Amendment Claims

The author discusses “ultra-particularity” – a clever tool used to invoke qualified immunity and shield officers and jailers from liability. The article explores Supreme Court and circuit court opinions, and what it takes to prevail on a claim outside of the more commonplace excessive force claims.

Incarcerated individuals are entitled to a basic standard of care, but stories of subhuman conditions still abound in the media. Defense attorneys perhaps can obtain additional doctor visits or proper medication. The fundamental abuses, however, are harder to combat.

Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner (On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari).

Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondents.

Report of the Sex Offender Policy Task Force reflecting NACDL's policy on sex offender registries and other practices as adopted by the Board of Directors.

Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Mississippi Office of the State Public Defender, and Mississippi Public Defenders Association In Support of Petitioner.