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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 justice system.
NACDL envisions a society where all individuals receive fair, rational, and humane treatment within the criminal justice system.
NACDL’s mission is to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal justice 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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Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae in Support of Appellant.
Argument: Harmless error is an inadequate standard for review in cases of pervasive and far-reaching prosecutorial misconduct. The present case included an invasion and use of an accused’s attorney-client privileged conversations and attorney work product privileged documents. Because of the toxic effect on the proceedings, alleged prosecutorial misconduct cannot be adequately measured by the evidence against the accused in harmless error analysis. Rather, when prosecutorial misconduct is obviously illegal or forms a pattern of unlawful behavior it so offends the Due Process clause that the court should treat it as a structural error. Amici assert the prosecutorial misconduct in the present case is analogous to the “interested prosecutor” a recognized structural error. Amici argue the Court should treat the present prosecutorial misconduct as a structural error and dismiss the case. Such a result serves both the interests of the defendant in a fair proceeding and the public in seeing justice done.
NACDL is dedicated to securing meaningful, systematic reform and to preventing the insidious harm caused when a prosecutor carelessly, or purposefully, fails in his or her duties to us all. Prosecutorial overreaching and misconduct distort the truth-finding process and taint the credibility of the criminal justice system, including the outcomes they generate. When prosecutors’ fundamental obligations are ignored and individuals’ rights are violated in order to secure a conviction, little can be done to rectify the wrongs inflicted upon the individuals involved and on the system itself.
Prosecutorial overreaching and misconduct distort the truth-finding process and taint the credibility of the criminal justice system, including the outcomes they generate. When prosecutors’ fundamental obligations are ignored and individuals’ rights are violated in order to secure a conviction, little can be done to rectify the wrongs inflicted upon the individuals involved and on the system itself.
Our proposal addresses a different problem than that addressed by the Hyde Amendment, which it is not intended to modify or replace. Whereas the Hyde Amendment seeks to deter prosecutorial misconduct, and provides that certain of its victims may be reimbursed their attorney fees and expenses, this proposal seeks to reimburse acquitted defendants without regard to the good or bad faith of the prosecutors.
Virginia Discovery Reform
Virginia Fair Trial Coalition support agreement
Two-page summary of the need for criminal discovery reform in Virginia and the legislative proposal
Key points in support of Virginia criminal discovery reform legislation
NACDL comments to the Virginia Supreme Court on proposed revisions to Virginia's discovery rules: Proposed Revisions to Rules 3A:11 and 3A:12 Received from the Virginia State Bar Criminal Discovery Reform Task Force.
The Jacob Burns Ethics Center at Cardozo Law School hosted a conference on November 15-16, 2009, with leading professionals and scholars who presented their viewpoints on Brady and other disclosure obligations. This conference explored what are the best systems for information management; what kinds of training, oversight and systems of accountability are the best practices; and how we can encourage a commitment to those practices.
Alafair S. Burke, Talking About Prosecutors, 31 Cardozo L. Rev. 2119. This is a work from the Cardozo Law Review Symposium New Perspectives on Brady and Other Disclosure Obligations: What Really Works? (2009).
Bruce A. Green, Beyond Training Prosecutors About Their Disclosure Obligations: Can Prosecutors' Offices Learn from Their Lawyers' Mistakes?, 31 Cardozo L. Rev. 2161. This is a work from the Cardozo Law Review Symposium New Perspectives on Brady and Other Disclosure Obligations: What Really Works? (2009).
Lawton P. Cummings, Can an Ethical Person Be an Ethical Prosecutor? A Social Cognitive Approach to Systemic Reform, 31 Cardozo L. Rev. 2139. This is a work from the Cardozo Law Review Symposium New Perspectives on Brady and Other Disclosure Obligations: What Really Works? (2009).
Ellen Yaroshefsky, Foreword: New Perspectives on Brady and Other Disclosure Obligations: What Really Works?, 31 Cardozo L. Rev. 1943. This is a work from the Cardozo Law Review Symposium New Perspectives on Brady and Other Disclosure Obligations: What Really Works? (2009).
Report of the Working Groups on Best Practices, New Perspectives on Brady and Other Disclosure Obligations, 31 Cardozo L. Rev. 1961. This is a work from the Cardozo Law Review Symposium New Perspectives on Brady and Other Disclosure Obligations: What Really Works? (2009).
