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
Contact members of congress, sign petitions, and more
Help us continue our fight by donating to NFCJ
Help shape the future of the association
Join the dedicated and passionate team at NACDL
Increase brand exposure while building trust and credibility
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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A NEW 7-Episode NACDL Webinar Series
LOCATION: Online Web Training DATES: Access any time
A NEW 8-Episode / 20-Hour Web Series
A NEW 13-Hour Web Series
As a result of generous grant funding, NACDL is able to offer scholarship assistance to public defense attorneys to attend training programs.
Featuring NACDL's Task Force on Criminal Court Reopening: Nina Ginsberg, Stephen Ross Johnson, Todd Pugh, and MartÃn Sabelli
NACDL Affiliate Organizations are encouraged to submit their local CLE details for inclusion in future issues of The Champion and this web page by sending an e-mail to Cori Crisfield at ccrisfield@nacdl.org.
NACDLPress is the publishing arm of NACDL. It originated as a co-publishing initiative between Thomson Reuters and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers which seeks to develop high-quality legal materials designed for criminal defense lawyers. NACDLPress offerings provide legal professionals with insightful analysis of the ever-changing issues within the criminal defense practice area from distinguished NACDL authors and experts with superior legal publications and training guides.
A key pillar of the First Step Act, a bipartisan federal criminal reform bill signed into law in December 2018, was the creation of a risk and needs assessment tool for federal prisoners. In July 2019, the Department of Justice first published this tool, the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (“PATTERN”) and began using it to place prisoners in recidivism reduction programming and award certain benefits. This webinar discusses the origins of PATTERN as well as the many questions that remain about its design and implementation, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Updates and information about applying for compassionate release for your client. Topic-specific segments are listed below. Presented by Mira Baylson, member, Cozen O'Connor; Elizabeth Blackwood, Counsel & Project Director, First Step Act Resource Center, NACDL; Justine Harris, partner, Sher Tremonte; Lisa Mathewson, Law Offices of Lisa A. Mathewson; JaneAnne Murray, Professor of Practice, University of Minnesota Law School; Shazzie Naseem, partner, Berkowitz Oliver; Avery Pollard, associate, Zuckerman Spaeder; Marjorie Peerce, partner, Ballard Spahr; and Mary Price, General Counsel, FAMM.
Because the full implications of First Step Act measures may not be immediately apparent, NACDL hosted a live webinar on January 29, 2019. Sentencing expert Amy Baron-Evans discussed the ins and outs of the new law, with emphasis on potentially overlooked aspects of the most significant provisions. Amy is the Sentencing Resource Counsel for the Federal Public and Community Defenders, and the go-to lawyer among federal defenders for difficult sentencing questions.
Long underused and unfairly applied by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal compassionate release is seeing a revival under the First Step Act. That law not only corrected many of the flaws in the way the BOP handled compassionate release requests, but allows prisoners direct access to the courts. The new law clarifies the broad range of circumstances related to age, illness, and family circumstances that might trigger eligibility for relief and further opens up exciting new opportunities to seek reconsideration of sentences that are no longer appropriate for a variety of other reasons.
Presented by: Ariel Simms, Criminal Justice Attorney Fellow, National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability (NCCJD), The Arc
Walk through the recommendations from NACDL's Policing Body Cameras report and learn about how to negotiate stronger body camera policies in your jurisdiction, the technical aspects of body cameras, and strategies and tactics for defending clients in body camera jurisdictions.
Presented by: Brian Pori, Assistant Federal Public Defender, New Mexico; and Sarah St. Vincent, Researcher/Advocate, US Program, Human Rights Watch
Presented by: Esha Bhandari, Staff Attorney, Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, American Civil Liberties Union
