The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is pleased to submit our comments with respect to the proposed changes in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is pleased to submit our comments with respect to the proposed changes in the Federal Rules of Evidence.

Criminal Local Rule 32.1.8 creates special provisions governing the submission of motions for departure under U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 and related written material. NACDL members often represent cooperating witnesses who may want the details of their “substantial assistance” kept out of the public eye, but our members also often represent the defendants against whom “cooperators” testify, and who therefore have an interest in disclosure of and readier access to such information. …we do believe that our following comments are even-handed and fair-minded, not a case of special pleading.

NACDL encourages the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules to give serious consideration to the suggestion on your April 2016 agenda to extend to 30 days from the present 14 the time for filing a defendant's notice of appeal in a federal criminal case. (This period is measured not from the date of sentencing but from the date when the written judgment is entered on the docket, which might be the sentencing day but is often anywhere from a day or two to a few weeks later.) There are many reasons why this idea has merit beyond those noted in the Reporter's memorandum.

We write this letter on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in order to comment on the ad hoc committee's Proposed Disclosure Rule, which was published in the Washington Law Reporter on January 29, 2016. As we discuss below, we applaud the Committee for its efforts, we support the proposed changes as filling a void in the existing rules, and we suggest additional ways in which the Proposed Disclosure Rule could be further improved. 

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is pleased to submit our comments on the proposed changes to Rules 12.4, 45(c) and 49 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is pleased to submit our comments on the proposed changes to Rules 25, 28.1, 29, 31 and 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and to Appellate Form 4.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers opposes the proposed amendment to Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(1)(A). The amendment would permit the substantive use of unsworn and presumptively unreliable out-of-court statements. The amendment would thus mark a sharp break with other exceptions to the hearsay rule, which generally require circumstantial assurances of reliability. There is no identified need that would justify such a striking impingement on the trial's truth-seeking function.

Comments to the Rules Committee of the United States Supreme Court regarding proposed amendments to the Court rules.

NACDL comments to the Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) Rules Committee, and FISC Presiding Judge regarding proposed amendments to FISC Rules of Procedure 7(j); 11(d); 13(a)(4), (a)(S) & (b)(4); 17(b), (c) & (d); 62(a); and 63.

Comments to the Judicial Conference of the United States Practice & Procedure Committee regarding a proposed amendment to define how federal courts should navigate an emergency suspension of rules (new Criminal Rule 62), such as those posed by COVID-19 and directed by the CARES Act (H.R. 748, 2020).

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan’s letter to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure, regarding federal disclosure obligations and suggesting an amendment to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service regarding proposed changes to SNAP benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD).

Comments to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules regarding proposed amendments to Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Comments to the Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure regarding proposed amendments to Rule 3(c) and 42(b) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.