Renewed War on Drugs, harsher charging policies, stepped-up criminalization of immigrants — in the current climate, joining the NACDL is more important than ever. Members of NACDL help to support the only national organization working at all levels of government to ensure that the voice of the defense bar is heard.
Take a stand for a fair, rational, and humane criminal legal system
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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 legal system.
NACDL envisions a society where all individuals receive fair, rational, and humane treatment within the criminal legal system.
NACDL’s mission is to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal legal 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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The consequences of conviction – specific legal barriers, generalized discrimination, and social stigma – have become more numerous and severe, more public, and more permanent. NACDL is proud to have several projects aimed at examining the collateral consequences of these convictions, including our 2014 report Collateral Damage, the 2018 Presidential Summit on collateral consequences, and our work to promote second chances at the state and federal level.
NACDL is working with a coalition of organizations to end felony disenfranchisement in Oregon.
Coalition letter to the Oregon state legislative leadership regarding efforts to restore voting and other rights to people convicted of felony offenses, as proposed in HB 2366 / SB 571 (2021).
Organizational letter of support to Sen. Rob Portman to designate April 2017 at Second Chance Month.
Coalition letter to the President of the United States in support of federal ban the box for government agencies and contractors; NACDL is a signatory.
NACDL Letter to New Mexico Governor in support of HB 370, the "Criminal Record Expungement Act."
NACDL letter of support on Council Bill B22-0523, the "Removing Barriers to Occupational Licenses Amendment Act of 2017."
NACDL letter of support to Members of Congress who are sponsors of the Democracy Restoration Act of 2014 (S. 2235/H.R. 4459).
NACDL letter of support to Members of Congress who are not sponsors of the Democracy Restoration Act of 2014 (S. 2235/H.R. 4459).
Nat'l Criminal Defense Bar to Hold Hearings on Barriers to Re-Entry and the Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Record - Washington, DC (Oct. 17, 2011) – It has been reported that as many as one in four American adults have a criminal record, some 65 million people. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) is a leading national voice calling attention to this matter of significant public concern -- the vast expansion in recent decades of the criminal law and its intended and unintended consequences in American society.
National Task Force to Hold Hearings in Miami On the Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction -- Washington, DC (February 14, 2012) – With more than 65 million Americans possessing a criminal record, the consequences of conviction – specific legal barriers, generalized discrimination, and social stigma – have become more numerous and severe, more public, and more permanent.
Hearings on Barriers to Social Re-Entry And Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions – Washington, DC (July 23, 2012) – The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ (NACDL) Task Force on Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction will hold its fourth national hearing on how legal mechanisms for relief from the collateral consequences of conviction are actually working in state and federal systems on Thursday and Friday, July 26 and 27, 2012, in San Francisco, California at the offices of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, 405 Howard St.
Hearings on Barriers to Social Re-Entry for Ex-Offenders And Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions -- Washington, DC (April 25, 2012) – With more than 65 million Americans possessing a criminal record, the consequences of conviction – specific legal barriers, generalized discrimination, and social stigma – have become more numerous and severe, more public, and more permanent.
Between 2012 and 2014, NACDL’s Task Force on Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction embarked on a study of relief mechanisms available to those with a conviction on their record on the local, state and federal level. At an event at the Open Society Foundations in Washington, DC, NACDL released a major new report that comprehensively explored the stigma and policies relegating tens of millions of people in America to second-class status because of an arrest or conviction. [Released May 2014]
NACDL has undertaken an unprecedented and wide-ranging inquiry into how legal mechanisms for relief from the collateral consequences of conviction are actually working, in state and federal systems. NACDL's Task Force on Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction has conducted a series of regional hearings (Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and New York) to study state and federal relief mechanisms.
