20^th Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference
August 18-20, 2021 | Held Virtually

This panel highlights policing reforms adopted over the last year and what still needs to be done.

NACDL's 19th Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference
August 17-19, 2020 | Held Virtually
Policing in America: Policing the Police

Defenders start from the proposition that something went wrong with the police case.

But how do things go wrong?

Defense attorneys often point to “one big screw-up” or “one twisted cop” in telling the story of a client’s innocence to a jury. In reality, the best explanation of how things go wrong is usually an “organizational accident” – a lot of small errors that alone would not be enough to cause something to go wrong, but when put together can cause catastrophe.

NACDL supports improved transparency around police disciplinary records in New Jersey.

NACDL worked with state partners to successfully advocate for public access to law enforcement disciplinary records.

The Long Shadow of the Trial Penalty

Thanks to the trial penalty, criminal trials no longer offer sufficient opportunities for the community to evaluate the conduct of the police during citizen-officer encounters. Police and prosecutors can effectively coerce guilty pleas thereby obscuring, even deliberately shielding, unlawful police conduct from public exposure and review by the courts.

Whatever Happened to Willie Horton? Edward A. Mallett October 2000 7 When George W.'s father beat Michael Dukakis in 1988 he got great mileage out of the proposition that a violent crime by a Massachusetts parolee demonstrated the Democratic Party's incompetence. His anti-crime demagoguery connected

NACDL Full Disclosure Project's response to the Request for Information and recommendations to the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) regarding the National Decertification Index Expansion Project and the need to address and present law enforcement misconduct data transparently.

Letter to New Jersey legislative leadership regarding a proposed bill to require that law enforcement disciplinary records are government record and available to the public (S2656, 2020).

Coalition letter from the NJ Coalition for Transparent Policing to the leadership of the New Jersey state legislature regarding proposed legislation to make law enforcement disciplinary records accessible to the public as government record (Senate Bill 2656).

Coalition letter to President Biden regarding the absence thus far of executive actions addressing discriminatory and militarized policing in Black and Brown communities.

Brief Of Amici Curiae American Civil Liberties Union, Bronx Defenders, Cato Institute, Center for Appellate Litigation, Center on The Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School Of Law, Legal Aid Society, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Police Accountability Project, New York Civil Liberties Union, New York State Chief Defenders Association, New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Office of the Appellate Defender Supporting Reversal.

Argument: Evidence fabrication is a serious and pervasive problem, and its innocent victims often do not obtain an “indication of innocence.” Requiring indicia of innocence for civil rights claims of evidence fabrication is unfair and unworkable. McDonough does not affect the substantive difference between malicious prosecution claims and fabrication claims, which address corruption of the criminal process regardless of probable cause. The District Courts’ rule would be unjust, unfair, and unworkable. The District Courts’ rule undermines the core accountability function of § 1983 in cases of very serious misconduct. The District Court’s rule would harmfully exacerbate the existing power imbalance against criminal defendants. The District Courts’ rule is not administrable and will yield arbitrary results.

Brief Of Amici Curiae American Civil Liberties Union, Bronx Defenders, Cato Institute, Center for Appellate Litigation, Center on The Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School Of Law, Legal Aid Society, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Police Accountability Project, New York Civil Liberties Union, New York State Chief Defenders Association, New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Office of the Appellate Defender Supporting Reversal.

Argument: Evidence fabrication is a serious and pervasive problem, and its innocent victims often do not obtain an “indication of innocence.” Requiring indicia of innocence for civil rights claims of evidence fabrication is unfair and unworkable. McDonough does not affect the substantive difference between malicious prosecution claims and fabrication claims, which address corruption of the criminal process regardless of probable cause. The District Courts’ rule would be unjust, unfair, and unworkable. The District Courts’ rule undermines the core accountability function of § 1983 in cases of very serious misconduct. The District Court’s rule would harmfully exacerbate the existing power imbalance against criminal defendants. The District Courts’ rule is not administrable and will yield arbitrary results.

Board member Tim Evans' statement to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and to the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs and Criminal Justice, regarding the 1993 confrontation between Branch Davidians and law enforcement in Waco, TX.

Brief of Amici Curiae American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Opposition to Government’s Motion for Reconsideration.

Argument: The government ignores the public interest in transparency about police misconduct. The government makes no attempt to meet the stringent standard for hiding from the public information illuminating one of the most fraught issues of our day: the role of racial prejudice and false testimony in the criminal justice system. Hiding this Court’s conclusions about Trooper Fleischer would not change the government’s Giglio obligations, but it would make enforcement of those obligations more difficult for defendants. The government wants this Court to whitewash its conclusions about racial motivation and false testimony in order to shield Trooper Fleisher from future cross examination about them. The government’s position threatens the due administration of justice. Law enforcement witnesses are entitled to no special treatment in our court system. Courts make credibility findings every day that may devastate the careers, relationships, and futures of thousands of people.