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.
Showing 1 - 15 of 180 results
Montejo and the Supreme Court's Limits on The Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel
The Intersection of Race and Poverty: Challenging Debtors' Prisons presented by Nusrat Choudhury, Deputy Director, Racial Justice Program, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Race Matters I: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice September 14-15, 2017 | Detroit, MI
Bond: Practice presented by Colette Tvedt, The Law Firm of Colette Tvedt LLC, Denver, CO
Bond: Policy presented by Brandon Buskey, Deputy Director for Smart Justice Litigation, Criminal Law Reform Project, American Civil Liberties Union
What are a criminal defense attorney’s duties to the client when the attorney learns that jail or prison communications between the attorney and client are subject to official monitoring?
Ad Hoc Military Tribunals Committee Position Paper for the Board of Directors of The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers(fn 1)
For incarcerated people, the conclusion of court-based litigation usually signals the end of all relationships with attorneys. However, people sentenced to a term of imprisonment continue to need lawyers. For example, they need assistance when corrections officials miscalculate their sentencing credit, and they need help seeking release when physical or cognitive decline leaves them disabled or on the brink of death.
Despite the evidentiary support for counsel at first appearance (CAFA), not all local officials are persuaded of its benefits. Trisha Trigilio summarizes wisdom from defenders who have implemented boundary-pushing CAFA and early representation programs without a statewide mandate or court order.
On behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) we call upon the City of Aurora to rescind its Request for Proposals, R-2384, soliciting firms for bids to replace the city’s current public defense provider. The decision to replace the current public defense system with a flat fee contract will undercut public safety, undermine community confidence, and represents poor fiscal responsibility.
We write to voice our opposition to Senate Bill 8, a bill that would replace the multi-stakeholder Louisiana Public Defender Board with a state public defender selected by the Governor. If enacted, this legislation would significantly undermine the independence of the defense function in Louisiana, further eroding the community’s trust in our legal institutions and negatively impacting public safety, while wholly failing to address the core need of the state’s public defense system – a stable and robust stream of funding to insure the provision of constitutionally effective representation.
Brief of National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers and Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice in Support of Appellant
For many years, Michigan’s public defense system was deficient, failing to guarantee the effective assistance of counsel required by the Sixth Amendment. Michigan delegated responsibility for providing public defense to individual counties, providing no statewide training for public defense attorneys, no performance standards to govern their practice, and no review of their performance. In 2008, after an extensive investigation, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association issued a report that concluded that Michigan’s systems were some of the nation’s worst.
State ex rel. Missouri Public Defender Commission, Cathy R. Kelly and Rod Hackathorn v. The Honorable John S. Waters and the Honorable Mark Orr (Mo. 2012)
In 2023 the ABA adopted a revised version of the Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System. These replaced the version initially adopted in 2002.
Groundbreaking Report Offers Solutions to America’s Indigent Defense Crisis as Nation Marks 50 Years of Gideon v. Wainwright -- Washington, DC (January 8, 2013) – As the nation enters the 50th anniversary year of Gideon, the landmark Supreme Court decision clarifying that the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel applies regardless of whether a defendant can afford to pay an attorney, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid & Indigent Defendants (ABA/SCLAID)...
