We advocate for immediate commutation of sentences, compassionate release, and second chances for persons convicted of non-violent marijuana offenses. The continued prosecution of marijuana crimes continues to cause irreparable harm on real people and their families. Men and women languish in federal prisons across this country for conduct today that has been legalized in many states and under statues that have been rewritten to reflect the evolving landscape in the field of marijuana.

NACDL has serious concerns with many of the changes in the proposed rule Inmate Discipline Program: Disciplinary Segregation and Prohibited Act Code Changes, 89 FR 6455. …the proposed regulations provide no protections for people in administrative segregation and other forms of solitary confinement. Second, the creation and elevation of disciplinary violations … will lead to arbitrary and capricious enforcement and further erode public trust in the agency. Third, the proposed ban on social media accounts … impedes a critical component of successful reentry...

Attached is the testimony of Clare Garvie, Fourth Amendment Center Training and Resource Counsel, for the U.S. Commission on Human Rights' hearing on Civil Rights Implications of the Federal Use of Facial Recognition Technology. Her testimony highlights how the use of facial recognition technology in the criminal legal system intersects with the Commission’s mandate to inform civil rights policy, enhance enforcement of federal civil rights laws, and investigate discrimination in the administration of justice. 

The National Association of Defense Lawyers (NACDL) respectfully submits the following comments on these important proposed amendments.

On behalf of NACDL, we write to address the need to amend Rule 17 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to allow the parties to issue subpoenas for documents and tangible items to third parties without leave of Court. … The current Rule 17 is ambiguous in critical respects, leading to disparate application that threatens the ability of defense counsel to adequately investigate, develop, and present available defenses, and thus to provide the level of assistance required by the Constitution.

Below are NACDL's comments on Executive Order 14074 on Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety. The policing technologies at issue in the Executive Order create serious harms for individual criminal defendants, their lawyers, and the criminal legal system more broadly. In this comment, NACDL aims to highlight the serious dangers that these technologies pose and propose recommendations for mitigating those dangers.

The undersigned groups are pleased to see that the U.S. Sentencing Commission has made the comparing of sentences imposed in cases disposed of through trial versus plea one of its priorities for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2024. As groups with significant experience examining the trial versus plea sentencing disparity, we respectfully request a meeting with Commissioners or staff or both who are working on this important issue.

Back on November 4, 2022, NACDL’s then President Nellie L. King wrote to Director Peters to amplify the association’s call for (1) permitting privileged and unmonitored email communications between attorneys and clients in both pretrial and post-conviction settings and (2) for a “help desk” to facilitate scheduling of privileged attorney-client telephone calls.

We have seen the DOJ Advisory Group’s July 20, 2023, Report and Recommendations... In general, we think many of the recommendations are sensible. But some of them are troubling.

The National Association of Defense Lawyers (NACDL) respectfully submits the following comments on the Commission’s possible policy priorities for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2024.

NACDL hereby responds to the Commission’s request for comment on the retroactive application of Part A of the 2023 Criminal History Amendment which limits, and, in some cases, eliminates status points under USSG § 4A1.1(d), and Part B, Subpart 1 of this year’s Criminal History Amendment, which amends USSG § 4C1.1 to provide for a two-level downward adjustment for “zero-point offenders.” NACDL endorses retroactive application for both provisions without limitation.

As a criminal defense organization, we do not profess to possess expertise in policing practices insofar as those practices do not directly intersect with the criminal justice system. But many police practices do have a direct impact on the treatment of accused persons, the degree to which their cases are litigated justly, and case outcomes. Accordingly, we offer a few key insights, which we hope will find their way into the Commission’s recommendations.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a professional society, offers the following comments for the White House’s consideration. … NACDL has particular expertise in the collection of law enforcement data. Since 2020, NACDL’s Full Disclosure Project has managed an open-source web application to track, aggregate, and analyze law enforcement misconduct data. NACDL also collaborates with advanced computing and data science partners to develop tools and processes that automate collecting and digesting police data.

NACDL is pleased to see the U.S. Sentencing Commission proposing amendments the Sentencing Guidelines that seek to address the unfair practice of allowing acquitted conduct to be considered as relevant conduct under Sentencing Guideline Section 1B1.3.

NACDL supports the Commission’s proposed amendment to §1B1.13, with some suggested modifications, and supports Option 3 to (b)(6). After reviewing the Commission’s recent hearings on this proposed amendment as well as the submitted written testimony, NACDL focuses its comments on proposals (b)(5), (b)(6), and (b)(4).

NACDL submits this comment in response the Bureau of Prisons’ Proposed rule that would significantly change the regulations regarding the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program. We oppose these proposed changes, which are harsh and inequitable and will harm not only people who are incarcerated, but their families and dependents.