Equal Justice & the Grand Jury: Achieving Racial Fairness

Presented by: Angela J. Davis, Professor, American University Washington College of Law; Peter L. Davis, Assoc. Professor Emeritus, Touro College Law Center, Central Islip, NY; Ross H. Garber, Shipman & Goodwin, Hartford, CT; Tanya Clay House, Director of Public Policy, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and Darryl A. Stallworth, Esq., Oakland, CA, former Alameda County Deputy District Attorney

Due Process & the Grand Jury: Protecting Targets and Witnesses

Presented by Roger Fairfax, Professor, George Washington Univ. School of Law; Carol Elder Bruce, K&L Gates, Washington, DC; Niki Kuckes, Professor, Roger Williams University School of Law, Bristol, RI; Gerald B. Lefcourt, Esq., New York, NY; and Gina Simms, Ober | Kaler, Washington, DC

NACDL created The Commission to Reform the Federal Grand Jury, drawing on the expertise of a variety of professionals throughout the criminal justice system. Commissioners spent two years examining the need for changes in the grand jury process and produced a Federal Grand Jury Bill of Rights based on their findings. The ten reforms set forth in this Bill of Rights, largely echoing those proposed by the American Bar Association (ABA) more than 20 years ago, would restore balance to the grand jury process and better protect against unwarranted prosecutions. [Released May 2000]

NACDL issued a groundbreaking new report on restoring and reforming the grand jury system. This research reflects an in-depth study of grand jury reform in two states – New York and Colorado – and produces with four reform recommendations. [Released November 2011]

In light of the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., should “use of deadly force to arrest” laws be changed? The authors recommend that state statutes be amended to employ an “objective necessity” test in cases involving “deadly force” arrests. This proposed standard would empower grand juries and petit juries to determine if an officer committed a crime — regardless of the officer’s subjective belief that the use of deadly force was necessary.

Rather than a bulwark against "hasty, malicious and oppressive prosecution," today's federal grand jury is too often a rubber stamp, leading many to agree that "a good prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich." 

NACDL calls upon Congress to halt the dangerous erosion and abuse of the federal grand jury and enact the modest proposals outlined in our Federal Grand Jury Reform Report & "Bill of Rights."

A new development in New Mexico courts in the matter of In re Grand Jury Presentation Concerning James Bort Jones resulting in a pre-indictment mechanism enabling investigation targets to alert grand jury to exculpatory evidence.

With its opinion In re Grand Jury Presentation Concerning James Bort Jones (N.M. 2009), New Mexico joins a minority of states – Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee, and Illinois – that have explicit pre-indictment mechanisms. The court noted the importance of pre-indictment procedures given the irrevocable consequences that an indictment can have on a target’s career and reputation.

Federal grand gury reform resources

Federal Grand Jury reform proposals

Articles, editorials and news related to grand jury reform.

Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-AR) introduced the Grand Jury Due Process Act (S. 2030) in May 1998. This legislation would have provided a right to assistance of counsel in the grand jury room. In July 1998, Bumpers introduced a more comprehensive reform bill called the Grand Jury Reform Act (S. 2289). In addition to providing a right to counsel's presence, this legislation would have required that grand jurors receive basic legal instructions, that prosecutors present any substantial evidence of innocence, and that defendants receive transcripts of certain grand jury testimony against them.

"Help! I've Been Subpoenaed! What Do I Do?" By Earle F. Kyle IV and Gerald B. Lefcourt, ACCA Docket October 2002

Letter to the Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure regarding proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, except those related to criminal forfeiture.

Letter to the Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure regarding proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure applicable to criminal forfeiture.