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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The problem of overcriminalization is multifaceted, with many aspects that pervade our criminal legal system, including the criminalization of conduct that is not harmful to society or others; criminal statutes that lack adequate mens rea, or intent, requirements; ambiguous and vague language in criminal statutes that provide insufficient notice and insufficient limitation on what conduct is criminalized; and the imposition of vicarious liability with insufficient requirement that the charged person was involved in, or even knew about, the underlying conduct.
Amicus Brief on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for Defendant-Appellant Seth Fishman
Though well-intentioned, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) is a broad and vague statute and any efforts should be focused on narrowing and clarifying its nebulous rules. NACDL believes that existing Department of Justice (DOJ) enforcement authority is sufficient to enforce the statute, as recent high-profile cases have shown, and that granting additional enforcement tools is neither warranted nor worth the risk of overreach.
Board member Tim O'Toole's written statement to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security regarding proposed changes to the laws governing public corruption charges, as outlined in the Clean Up Government Act of 2011 (H.R.2572).
Letter with the Heritage Foundation to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding prosecutions of public corruption and the changes proposed in the Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act (S. 49, 2009).
In The Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County Department, Criminal Division: People of the State of Illinois v. Church, Chase & Betterly Memorandum of Law in Support of Joint Motion to Dismiss The Consitutionally Vague Terrorism Charges in The Indictment
NACDL Director of White Collar Crime Policy Shana-Tara Regon's written testimony to the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crims, Terrorism, and Homeland Security regarding concerns about enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act given the vagueness of the law's language and the possibility of misunderstanding what is and isn't legal under the statute.
Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Association of Federal Defenders.
Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of petitioner and urging reversal.
Brief for National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Association of Federal Defenders, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and Cato Institute as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner.
Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of appellant.
Brief of Amici Curiae Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for Democracy & Technology, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Scholars in Support of Defendant-Appellant Gilberto Valle.
Brief for Amicus Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants.
Motions FYI Gerald F. Uelmen
