NACDL - July 2016

‘A Little Communication Would Have Been Nice, Since This Is My Life:

Defendant Views on the Attorney-Client Relationship

How can defenders form strong relationships with their clients? Even when a defense attorney is doing a superb job and thoughtfully implementing the legal strategy, can anything negatively impact the client’s perception of the attorney-client relationship? Researchers explored these questions in a study of public defense services for people with mental health disorders.

Chelsea Davis, Ayesha Delany-Brumsey, and Jim Parsons

Affiliate News

Affiliate News for July 2016 Champion.

Gerald Lippert

Book Review: Beyond Freedom's Reach - A Kidnapping in the Twilight of Slavery

Lincoln freed the slaves, right? Not exactly. The Emancipation Proclamation, effective Jan. 1, 1863, only applied to those states that took up arms against the Union. It did not apply to slaveholding states that remained loyal to the Union. And, it was an Executive Order, not an Act of Congress. Lincoln issued it while the war still raged, so he dedicated Federal troops to the enforcement of the Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation did apply to Louisiana. This is where the story begins.

Maureen L. Rowland

Book Review: Project Fatherhood - A Story of Courage and Healing in One of America’s Toughest Commun

Living in a small, conservative, mid-western town most of my adult life, the story of Project Fatherhood grabbed my attention. It is a story about a group of fathers in Watts, a small community in the eastern corner of South Los Angeles, who want to improve not only their lives, but lives of the community.

Bob Lindemeier

Cybercrime and the Fourth Amendment

The constitutional protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment related to cybercrimes are no different than Fourth Amendment litigation involving a car, a house or any other private possession, but the application of these protections is evolving because of the nature of digital storage devices. People have become dependent on gadgets, and each gadget is an item protected by the Fourth Amendment. Practitioners should seek protections to ensure that the government does not use a search of a digital device as a fishing expedition to find evidence about unknown crimes. The government should not be able to rely on the good faith exception to justify an over-expansive and intrusive search. Marcia Shein outlines the considerations a defense attorney should keep in mind when involved in Fourth Amendment litigation having to do with digital evidence.

Marcia G. Shein

Defending the Rule of Law: The Military Commissions Defense Organization

The prosecutions unfolding at Guantanamo are among the most important criminal cases in U.S. history. Unfortunately, the proceedings have not lived up to the highest standards of American justice due to repeated delays, deliberate government interference with the defense function, and a shortage of defense resources. The Chief Defense Counsel for Military Commissions offers his opinion regarding how the military commissions have fared to date.

Brigadier General John G. Baker, USMC

DWI - Blood or Breath in Birchfield: The Supreme Court Draws a Critical Distinction

In Birchfield v. North Dakota, the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment permits warrantless breath tests incident to arrest for drunk driving, but a warrant must be obtained before obtaining a sample of blood.

Steven Oberman

ERRATUM

ERRATUM. July 2016 Champion.

NACDL

Inside NACDL: More Than a Few Good Men and Women: America’s Heroes at Guantanamo Bay

The women and men who have served as defense counsel for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay are heroes and champions of liberty.

Norman L. Reimer

NACDL News: NACDL Condemns HIV Criminalization

On May 21, 2016, at NACDL’s Spring Meeting, the board of directors unanimously adopted a resolution opposing all laws that base criminal liability and/or penalty enhancements on one’s HIV status rather than on the intent to harm another individual.