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NACDL is committed to enhancing the capacity of the criminal defense bar to safeguard fundamental constitutional rights.
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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.
One misapplication of criminal law is the overly broad expansion of criminal statutes by prosecutors, such as the statute involved in the case of Yates v. United States.
President Gerald Goldstein's statement to the House Judiciary Committee regarding making false statements to the government, in relation to the Government Accountability Act of 1995 (H.R. 1678) and Hubbard v. U.S. 115 S.Ct. 1754 (1995).
Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner.
Argument: A state government's right to regulate traffic flow does not qualify as "money or property" under this Court's applications of the mail fraud statute. The deception charged in this case -- lying about the motivation for state governmental policy -- is not cognizable as fraud under the mail fraud statute.
Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and New York Council of Defense Lawyers as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner (on Petition for Writ of Certiorari).
Argument: A defendant does not "obtain" property by depriving the victim of his "right to control" property. The decision below exemplifies a broader pattern of overcriminalization through expansive interpretation of federal criminal laws. The Second Circuit's reading of the federal criminal fraud statutes conflicts with the rule of lenity and clear statement principles.
