This training program will aid those working to defend persons accused of homicide in drug-related overdose deaths. Each section of the program focuses on a different aspect of these cases. CLE is not available for this program.

Below, find reports published by NACDL's Fourth Amendment Center.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers provides amicus assistance on the federal and state level in those cases that present issues of importance to criminal defendants, criminal defense lawyers, and the criminal justice system as a whole. A selection of NACDL's amicus briefs that address the Fourth Amendment are offered below. 

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The open fields doctrine is an exception to the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches, not seizures. While police officers can lawfully search a person’s property under the open fields doctrine, that doctrine does not speak to whether they can seize items they see.

for Criminal Defendants

Wholesale destruction of communications evidence on agents’ cellphones and elsewhere is something that criminal defendants and their lawyers face with shocking regularity.

Brief of Amici Curiae Electronic Privacy Information Center, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of Defendant-Appellant.

Argument: In this case of first impression, appellant argues that information about the technology and procedures underlying a facial recognition search must be disclosed to the defendant to cure the risk of misidentification and in accordance with Brady v. Maryland, even if the result of the search was used only investigatively, subject to later corroboration, and not admitted into evidence. The amicus brief explains the numerous opportunities for error present in the facial recognition process, and how error in that process determines the course of the investigation and results in racially disparate and otherwise wrongful arrests. NACDL’s Fourth Amendment Center has been working to better understand how defendants’ due process rights are impacted by the growing use of facial recognition technology and to equip defense attorneys with the knowledge and tools to combat resulting Brady violations. 

NACDL's Fourth Amendment Center offers direct assistance to defense lawyers handling cases involving new surveillance tools, technologies and tactics that infringe on the constitutional rights of people in America. The Center is available to help members of the defense bar in bringing new Fourth Amendment challenges, providing a range of support: from training and resources to expert consultation and direct litigation, all free of charge.

Understanding the Issues & the Science

This comment from the Fourth Amendment Center addresses the National Institute of Standards and Technology's report "Digital Investigation Techniques: A Scientific Foundation Review."

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

Argument: Both federal appellate courts and state courts of last resort have inconsistently decided whether the Fourth Amendment protects social guests from unreasonable searches when they visit a home but do not spend the night. In the decision below, the New York Court of Appeals widened this split by ruling that a social guest who [*5] visited for dinner, but did not stay the night, did not have standing to challenge the search of his host's home. See People v. Ibarguen, 37 N.Y.3d 1107, 1107-08 (2021). The inconsistent application of the Fourth Amendment [*6] to social guests also degrades the efficacy of the exclusionary rule in providing clear standards for police conduct and concomitant deterrence of police misconduct by making it difficult to institutionalize uniform practices and compliance through widely-used training materials.

2012

Nation's Criminal Defense Bar Welcomes Bipartisan Legislation to Block Proposed Rule Changes Designed to Enable Sweeping Government Hacking Power -- Washington, DC (May 19, 2016) -- The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) welcomes the introduction of the Stop Mass Hacking Act (S. 2952) by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), to prevent changes to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure from taking effect.