Taxpayers' millions down the drain--along with Constitution - Washington, DC (April 28, 2009) – Nationwide, state and local governments are wasting millions of tax dollars to prosecute petty offenses, creating huge deficits in their budgets and violating the constitutional rights of citizens haled into court. That is the conclusion of Minor Crimes, Massive Waste: The Terrible Toll of America’s Broken Misdemeanor Courts, a report released today by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) that comprehensively examines misdemeanor courts across the country.

New York's High Court Issues Landmark Right to Counsel Ruling - Washington, DC (May 6, 2010) – The New York Court of Appeals ruled today in the case of Hurrell-Harring, et al. v. New York that indigent defendants denied their constitutional right to counsel do not have to be first convicted before seeking to vindicate that right.

Nation’s Criminal Defense Bar Welcomes DOJ Effort to Ensure State and Local Compliance with Americans’ Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel -- Washington, DC (August 15, 2013) – Fifty years after the Supreme Court’s landmark Sixth Amendment right to counsel decision in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), indigent defense systems across the nation, including the federal defender system, are in crisis. 

Federal Court Finds Systemic Violation of Indigent Defendants’ Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel -- Washington, DC (December 5, 2013) – Yesterday, in the case of Wilbur v. City of Mount Vernon, et al., one of a number of cases challenging systemic deficiencies in the delivery of indigent defense services across the nation, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington State found systemic violations of defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel by the Cities of Mount Vernon and Burlington, Washington, and ordered injunctive relief. 

DOJ Acts Boldly In Case to Expose Indigent Defense Deficiencies -- Washington, DC (September 25, 2014) – With the nation's indigent defense system mired in a persistent crisis of underfunding as a result of the failure of the states to enforce the Supreme Court's landmark Sixth Amendment right to counsel decision in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Department of Justice has acted boldly in a case that seeks to expose the resulting deficiencies. 

NACDL Offers New Scholarship Funding to Indigent Defense Providers -- Washington, DC (October 23, 2014) –The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) is pleased to announce a new program of scholarship assistance for indigent defense providers. The scholarships will foster access for both public and private defenders of the indigent accused to outstanding criminal defense training programs nationwide.

DOJ Needs to Consider Its Full Impact on System, Say Public Defenders and Private Criminal Defense Lawyers -- Washington, DC (Aug. 20, 2012) – The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the American Council of Chief Defenders (ACCD) Section of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association have issued a joint resolution calling on legislators and criminal justice policy-makers to prepare “justice system impact statements” for any proposed legislation or policy change that impacts federal, state or local criminal justice systems.

Nation's Criminal Defense Bar Issues Major Report; Calls for Greater Independence for Federal Indigent Defense System -- Washington, DC (Sept. 9, 2015) – After over 18 months of study, more than 130 individuals interviewed (including federal judges, federal defenders, Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel attorneys, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) personnel, and others, representing 49 states and all federal judicial circuits), hundreds of documents reviewed, and surveys conducted, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) today officially releases...

NACDL President E.G. "Gerry" Morris Testifies before Criminal Justice Act Review Committee -- Washington, DC (Nov. 17, 2015) – Today, E.G. "Gerry" Morris, President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) testified on behalf of the Association at a public hearing of the Committee to Review the Criminal Justice Act Program (CJA Committee) of the Judicial Conference of the United States in Santa Fe, N.M.

Nation’s Criminal Defense Bar Blasts Tennessee Supreme Court Rate Increase – Washington, DC (July 3, 2018) – On July 1, the Tennessee Supreme Court implemented an amendment to Court Rule 13, which sets the compensation rates and fee caps for assigned counsel in the state. The amendment raised the rate for out-of-court work from $40 per hour to $50 per hour, the same rate appointed counsel currently receive for their in-court hours. This would still leave Tennessee with rates among the lowest in the nation.