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Origins of the Organized Criminal Defense Bar: The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers -- Part One
By Jack King
Editor’s Note: NACDL, started by a handful of defense lawyers in
1958, has always led the struggle to ensure justice and due process for
all. In this issue, Jack King begins a three-part series tracing the
roots of NACDL, an organization that has grown from 13 founding members
to include nearly 13,000 members from every state and 30 nations.
The 1950s foreshadowed the rise of individual rights and liberties. For
its first 11 years, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
called itself the National Association of Defense Lawyers in Criminal
Cases (NADLCC). It was formed in 1958 at the Drake Hotel (pictured
above) in Chicago, immediately following a new program at Northwestern
University Law School, the “Short Course for Defense Lawyers,” organized
by Prof. Fred E. Inbau. The first annual meeting of NADLCC in 1959
featured presentations such as “Discovery Opportunities Available to the
Defense,” “The Federal Exclusionary Rule,” and “Illegal Detentio
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