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.
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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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President Gerald Goldstein's written statement to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs and Criminal Justice regarding government and law enforcement conduct in the 1993 confrontation between Branch Davidians and law enforcement in Waco, TX, and proposed changes in Exclusionary Rule Reform Act of 1995 (H.R. 666) and Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 1995 (S. 3).
Brief of Amicus Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Support of Defendant-Appellant.
Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of Petitioner.
Joint Amicus curiae brief of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the ACLU Foundation of Pennsylvania, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of affirmance of the district court.
Brief of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondent.
Brief Amici Curiae of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Support of Appellant’s Petition for Panel Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc
Proposals in Congress Make Future Wacos More Likely, Not Less -- Washington, DC (July 19, 1995) -- "Even as these Subcommittees begin to review the tragic debacle at Waco, ironically both Houses of Congress are considering measures to expand still further the powers of the very federal agencies responsible for that and other disasters. Those measures would bring about dramatic increases in the unchecked power, authority, and role of federal officials in everyday American life," according to National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) President Gerald H. Goldstein.
Provisions in Senate Crime Bill Would Eviscerate Fourth and Fifth Amendments -- Washington, DC (March 23, 1995) -- Proposals that would corrode the constitutional pillars of our legal system and undermine our cherished American democracy are now making their way through Congress.
Criminal Defense Bar Leader To Criticize Hypocrisy of Congress on Crime Measures -- Washington, DC (September 21, 1995) -- The head of the nation's criminal defense bar will criticize Congress' criminal justice agenda in a speech to the annual meeting of the District of Columbia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (DCACDL), to be held at Sfuzzi, in Washington's Union Station, on Friday evening, September 22.
Congress Should Act on the Common Lessons of Waco and Ruby Ridge -- Washington, DC (September 6, 1995) -- With Congress now focusing public attention on the law enforcement lawlessness that contributed to the tragedies at the Branch Davidians' Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas, and the home of the Weaver family on Ruby Ridge, Idaho, congressional leaders must adopt reforms to strengthen Americans' constitutional protections against such misconduct, and abandon proposals that would further weaken them, wrote Robert Fogelnest...
Joint Statement of Gerald H. Goldstein, Immediate Past President, and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) -- Washington, DC (October 24, 1995) -- By virtue of their role in the justice system, the nation's criminal defense lawyers are uniquely positioned to observe how law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies perform their work. Before the headline-grabbing events at Waco and Ruby Ridge, NACDL's members were painfully aware of the increasingly militaristic culture growing throughout law enforcement in the United States.
Abandoning Constitutional Liberties Won't Cure Crime! -- Washington, DC (June 12, 1995) -- The broad-based abandonment of constitutional liberties contained in the current congressional crime agenda represents a dangerous surrender of long-cherished American rights and will be futile in making our society safer, criminal defense lawyers from across the U.S. will tell congressional leaders on Wednesday, June 14 when they arrive in Washington for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' (NACDL) Fourth Annual Legislative Fly-In.