National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers urges the Government of Canada to abandon Bill S-10 and to reject mandatory minimum sentences; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers urges the Government of Canada to reallocate the money intended for S-10 to fund drug treatment and harm reduction programs, alternatives to incarceration, employment opportunities, and human services.

NACDL urges enactment of legislation to explicitly make all sentencing reform provisions of the First Step Act retroactive; to support commutation; and to support pro bono representation for inmates who might qualify for commutation pursuant to any systematic program announced by the Executive Branch.

NACDL supports pretrial policies and practices which ensure the protection of fundamental constitutional rights including the presumption of innocence, the prohibition on excessive bail, and robust due process protections. Fundamental to preserving these rights, is NACDL's efforts to ensure the right to counsel at first appearance.

NACDL's CLE Institute ensures the viability, efficiency, continuity, quality, and profitability of NACDL seminars by overseeing, planning, and implementing cutting-edge programming to foster excellence and high ethical standards in criminal defense practice, in a manner that maintains the integrity of its programs and status as the premiere CLE provider for the criminal defense bar.

NACDL adopts recommendations to reform flaws in criminal conspiracy law, and to calls for principled limits on the application of conspiracy law that recognize the inherent evidentiary, outcome reliability, and constitutional problems associated with all forms of conspiracy.

The Board unanimously adopted a Director and Leader Personal Conduct Policy.

NACDL is committed to providing a safe environment free of harassment, discrimination, intimidation and insult. NACDL prohibits any discrimination or harassment of our employees and program attendees based on a person’s race, color, gender, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or any other ground prohibited by the federal government, District of Columbia, relevant state or local law.

NACDL's Board of Directors adopted a resolution modifying the NACDL Continuing Legal Education Institute, as established by the Board of Directors on August 8, 2009.

NACDL opposes categorical, legislative prohibition of specific defenses.

NACDL urges all states and U.S. territories to adopt such constitutional provisions, laws or regulations necessary to guarantee that every accused person, irrespective of financial capacity to engage counsel, shall be guaranteed counsel at the first appearance before a judicial officer at which liberty is at stake or at which a plea of guilty to any criminal charge may be entered. ............

NACDL endorses Proposition 34 as a more effective, just, and cost-efficient method of preventing, solving, and punishing crime.

NACDL calls upon the federal government to conduct a comprehensive review of cases in which potentially flawed forensic evidence was utilized, including but not limited to those in which microscopic or visual hair comparison evidence was admitted, and to make immediate and full disclosure of the use of such evidence to the prosecution, defendant, and defense counsel in each case, ........

the following procedures shall govern the special election to be held at the NACDL Fall meeting in New Orleans: .......

An accused under any significant pretrial restriction of liberty, including but not limited to home confinement, should be entitled to appropriate credit for such restriction against any future sentence.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers adopted Ethics Opinion 12-02