<br /> <b>Get the latest in Criminal Justice News from <a href="http://www.nacdl.org">www.nacdl.org</a></b><br /> http://www.nacdl.org Law / Criminal Defense / Criminal Justice 2007 National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Tue, 4 Sep 2007 12:20:42 -0400 assist@nacdl.org Tue, 4 Sep 2007 12:20:33 -0400 assist@nacdl.org FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.1.6) http://www.feedforall.com weekly http://www.nacdl.org/RSS/nacdl_logo.jpg http://www.nacdl.org Get the latest in Criminal Justice News from www.nacdl.org 280 49 Capital Defender Head Will Resign: He Says Office Underfunded - September 1, 2007
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Bill Rankin

The head of the state capital defender office said Friday he will resign because there is not enough money in the budget to adequately fund the representation of death-penalty defendants.

In a letter sent Thursday to the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, Chris Adams said council should "tell the truth" to the courts about the lack of resources and halt all capital proceedings until there are enough resources for the office's lawyers to do their jobs.

"We must have the type of resources that allow us to get the job done," Adams wrote. "The current budget does not."

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/Georgia081 F0981A6C-0F02-4AD6-AEB4-263327116343 Sat, 1 Sep 2007 12:19:09 -0400 Legislators Want to Add Serious-Crime Suspects to Database - August 30, 2007
NorthJersey.com
By Peter J. Sampson

Two decades after a Florida rapist became the first American convicted in a case built on DNA evidence, investigators are routinely turning to a national database that now holds more than 5 million genetic "fingerprints."

Some lawmakers in New Jersey are hoping it can hold even more. They're considering legislation to further expand DNA collection in the state to include anyone convicted of disorderly conduct and those arrested for murder, manslaughter, kidnapping and sex offenses.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/innocence153 B205E629-49B4-458E-A323-760AA93F708C Thu, 30 Aug 2007 10:30:41 -0400 New Orleans' Indigent Defender Board Drops Suit Against Judges - August 31, 2007
The Times Picayune
By The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans' Indigent Defender Board has dropped a lawsuit against the city's Criminal District Court judges, now that the Legislature has overhauled the state's system for defending people who cannot pay attorneys.

The new state law makes the lawsuit moot, says a two-paragraph motion filed in federal court on Wednesday and approved the same day by U.S. District Judge Lance Africk.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/louisiana272 706B5E49-94F0-4E3B-AC4B-C10583DEECDB Tue, 4 Sep 2007 10:28:55 -0400 Ethics v. Expediency: Public Defender Fined for Refusing to Try Case 2 1/2 Hours after Appointment - August 27, 2007
NACDL Press Release

An Ohio public defender was fined $100 and given a three-day suspended sentence for refusing to go to trial unprepared in a multi-witness assault case the same day he was appointed.

Portage County Municipal Court Judge John Plough imposed the sentence on Brian Jones after a three-hour hearing late Friday afternoon.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/Newsreleases/2007mn020?OpenDocument 86DF8414-EFF5-49E4-98F6-8E55116ECCFB Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:26:44 -0400 Outraged by Plough - August 22, 2007
The Record Courier (OH)
By Richard C. Goemann

The people of Portage County should be outraged by the actions of Municipal Court Judge John Plough. Judge Plough recently ordered the arrest of Public Defender Brian Jones on contempt charges after Jones stated he was unprepared to proceed in a criminal trial when Judge Plough had only assigned Mr. Jones to his client's case on the preceding day.

Judge Plough gave Jones two and a half hours to prepare for trial -- a small fraction of the time needed to interview a client, research the law, investigate the facts, file motions and prepare for trial -- the kind of preparation Judge Plough certainly would expect of any lawyer representing him or member of his family.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/ohio022?opendocument 1F85354F-AB19-4C69-BBEC-350542F88B6E Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:46:31 -0400 NACDL President Condemns Jailing of Public Defender - August 17, 2007
NACDL Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC -- ­ (August 17, 2007) --- Carmen Hernandez today condemned the jailing of a public defender who refused to go to trial unprepared. Brian Jones, a public defender in Portage County, Ohio, was arrested for contempt after refusing to begin the misdemeanor assault trial of Jordan Scott. Mr. Scott’s case was assigned to Mr. Jones on Wednesday; the trial was to have begun at 1:30 pm Thursday.

Ms. Hernandez is the President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Ms. Hernandez’s Statement:

A public defender in Ohio was jailed yesterday for contempt after refusing to proceed to trial unprepared. He had been appointed just one day before the trial was to start. To imprison a defense attorney for standing up for his client and complying with his ethical obligations and doing what our Constitution and laws demand is just plain wrong.

The judge in the case accused the public defender of "impeding justice." An unprepared defense and undo haste cause far more injustice than minor delays and offend the fundamental guarantees that are the birthright of every American.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/Newsreleases/2007mn019?OpenDocument DA183E57-17BD-4AD7-9242-1AD810755C4C Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:14:15 -0400 2007-08 Executive Committee and Newly Elected Board of Directors Members Sworn in at Annual Meeting - August 4, 2007
NACDL Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO - The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers elected and swore in its new Officers and Board of Directors members at its annual conference.

Houston defense lawyer Jim Lavine was awarded the 27th annual Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award, NACDL's most prestigious honor.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/Newsreleases/2007mn018?OpenDocument 6ADE436D-4C8F-4186-975F-3218CE958047 Sat, 4 Aug 2007 14:28:35 -0400 Judge Has Unprepared Lawyer Arrested; Ohio Judge Sparks Outrage for Ordering Public Defender Arrested - August 20, 2007
ABC News
By Scott Michels

An Ohio judge angered state and national defense lawyers after he had a public defender arrested for being unprepared for trial.

Portage County Judge John Plough had assistant public defender Brian Jones arrested for contempt of court last week after Jones refused to begin a misdemeanor assault trial because he said he was unprepared. Jones was assigned to the case one day earlier.

Jones, who started working as a public defender earlier this year, was held for five hours in the local jail before being released on bail, said Ian Friedman, a lawyer with the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/ohio018 9E14C4B7-0363-496A-B262-9BDE836BB9FD Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:25:28 -0400 Guidelines Only One Factor Among Many At Sentencing, Supreme Court Holds - June 21, 2007
NACDL Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC -- In a Federal Sentencing Guidelines decision handed down today, the Supreme Court again made it clear that the guidelines are merely advisory.

The Court reaffirmed that district courts must exercise discretion based on the individual characteristics of the defendant and the circumstances of the offense, imposing a sentence that is "sufficient, but not greater than necessary" to comply with the goals of sentencing.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/Newsreleases/2007mn015?OpenDocument A458741D-E5B8-4EC0-9677-5C9E7EC4FD2D Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:38:38 -0400 Public Service Deserves Public Support - June Issue, 2007
The Champion Magazine
By Martin Pinales, Karen Mathis, and Mathias Heck, Jr.

As leaders of the nation’s primary associations of criminal law attorneys, representing both the prosecution and defense functions, we share a common interest in the efficacy and fairness of our criminal justice system. We may not always agree on the best way to achieve these broad goals, but there are issues to which we readily speak with one voice.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/ChampionArticles/A0705p38?OpenDocument 9CAD4370-402F-4A34-B95F-019466308C7A Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:34:11 -0400 Passenger Case Is a ‘Victory for Common Sense' - June 18, 2007
NACDL Press Release

Passengers have rights too, Supreme Court says

Washington, DC (June 18, 2007) -- Today’s Supreme Court decision holding that passengers in a car that has been illegally stopped by police have the same right as the driver to challenge the stop is a "victory for common sense," said Martin S. (Marty) Pinales, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/newsreleases/2007mn014?OpenDocument BB527495-BDA5-4977-87B5-196DE02172BD Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:27:20 -0400 In KPMG Case, the Thorny Issue of Legal Fees - June 12, 2007
Wall Street Journal
By Paul Davies & David Reilly

The federal judge overseeing criminal proceedings against 16 former KPMG LLP executives has been wrestling with a thorny issue: how to ensure they get a fair trial given his finding that the government improperly forced the accounting giant to cut off payment of their legal fees.

For a vivid illustration of what's at stake, consider the case of Jamie Olis, a former executive at Dynegy Inc., who is serving a six-year term at the Bastrop Federal Correctional Institute in Texas.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/whitecollar/WCnews074?opendocument 21027F27-347E-4F3B-B366-29CA2B4C5B49 Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:25:07 -0400 Studies Say Death Penalty Deters Crime - June 11, 2007
Associated Press
By Robert Tanner

Anti-death penalty forces have gained momentum in the past few years, with a moratorium in Illinois, court disputes over lethal injection in more than a half-dozen states and progress toward outright abolishment in New Jersey.

The steady drumbeat of DNA exonerations - pointing out flaws in the justice system - has weighed against capital punishment. The moral opposition is loud, too, echoed in Europe and the rest of the industrialized world, where all but a few countries banned executions years ago.

]]> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/10/national/a110155D46.DTL B70574CC-5B8A-4CC1-99B8-BBA1A79DC1EC Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:23:01 -0400 Fingerprint Scandal Costs Analyst Her Job - June 7, 2007
The Orlando Sentinel
By Rene Stutzman

A longtime analyst at the center of a scandal that has all but shut down fingerprint operations at the Seminole County Sheriff's Office resigned in disgrace Wednesday.

Donna Birks handed in her resignation shortly after Sheriff Don Eslinger told Birks that she was about to get fired, Eslinger said.

The Orlando Sentinel first reported last month that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was called in to re-examine hundreds of cases handled by Birks.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/sl_docs.nsf/issues/crimelabs007 2428B78D-50C8-4590-AC96-DCAFEF1E2B37 Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:17:36 -0400 Convicted Murderer Is Freed in Wake of Tainted Evidence - May 22, 2007
The New York Times
By Cheryl Camp

OKLAHOMA CITY, May 21 - "It’s like landing on a new planet," said Curtis E. McCarty, who was freed from death row this month after two convictions for the same murder, and 22 years in prison, 16 of them on death row.

Mr. McCarty, 44, had been scheduled to stand trial yet again on Monday for the killing in 1982 of a police officer’s daughter but was released based on a presumption of innocence after DNA evidence from earlier trials was destroyed.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/freeform/news&issues?OpenDocument 5635B241-C32F-4DF5-B1F4-58915C8AECFB Wed, 23 May 2007 17:49:16 -0400 Enter a ‘Hellish Place’ - May/June Issue - American Enterprise Institute
By: Luke Mullins

Tougher rules and longer sentences mean that prison for white-collar inmates is no longer Club Fed. Prisoner No. 20532-050 tells his eyewitness story to Luke Mullins.

I. Just Another Felon

Alfred A. Porro Jr. came to Allenwood in a large transport bus guarded by a handful of armed corrections officers. Like the five other prisoners on board, he arrived in full shackles. As the bus rumbled to a stop, the officers escorted the new inmates off the vehicle and turned them over to their keepers.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070516a?opendocument BE0F6E68-78D1-484A-AF74-096E49C48C70 Thu, 17 May 2007 09:44:17 -0400 Rape-Case Attorney Attacks DNA Lab Accuracy - May 16, 2007

Arizona Daily Star
By: Kim Smith

Attorneys for a man accused of rape want the judge to dismiss the case, saying the prosecutor withheld evidence indicating problems in the Tucson Police Department's DNA lab.

Court rules require prosecutors to tell defense attorneys about evidence that could help prove a defendant's innocence.

Defense attorney Jacob Amaru contends that the failure of Deputy Pima County Attorney Michelle Araneta and the Tucson Police Department failure to own up to DNA contamination problems amounts to withholding evidence. And he says the DNA lab's problems could scuttle some cases.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/arizona014 28C75C42-BE9F-4FAA-986D-75EE9565C9E9 Wed, 16 May 2007 09:42:24 -0400 DNA in Murders Frees Inmate After 19 Years - May 16, 2007

The New York Times
By: Tina Kelley

ELIZABETH, N.J., May 15 -- A man who served 19 years in prison for the sadistic murders of his companion’s two children walked out of the Union County Courthouse flanked by his family members after a judge vacated his convictions on Tuesday.

Prosecutors contended that DNA evidence in the case would probably change the mind of the jury that convicted the man, Byron Halsey, 46. They also said that the DNA evidence pointed instead to Cliff Hall, a neighbor who testified against Mr. Halsey at his 1988 trial and who is currently in prison for three sexual assaults.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/innocence081?OpenDocument 4CB60A2E-8A26-495A-865F-7D2799820159 Wed, 16 May 2007 15:03:23 -0400 Governor Announces New DNA Legislation - May 13, 2007

Capital News 9

It is legislation Governor Eliot Spitzer says will better solve crimes and exonerate innocent defendants.

The Governor and Lieutenant Governor David Patterson announced today they've submitted what's being called landmark DNA legislation.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/newyork065 933107DF-185F-437B-9CE9-B937FB8C4B42 Sun, 13 May 2007 17:25:27 -0400 Justice Department Official Resigning, Aides Say - May 14, 2007

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said Monday he will resign, becoming the highest-ranking Bush administration casualty in the furor over the firing of U.S. attorneys.

McNulty, who has served 18 months as the Justice Department's second-in-command, announced his plans at a closed-door meeting of U.S. attorneys in San Antonio. He told them he would remain at the department until late summer.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070515a?opendocument 06872AA4-CF8C-4523-8509-D2B0A39AAF63 Mon, 14 May 2007 17:23:34 -0400 Another's Confession Complicates Prosecution of Suspect in Hollywood Murder - May 14, 2007

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Andrew Tan

He wore Ecko Unlimited blue jeans -- the pants and his right Nike sneaker blotched with blood matching the murder victim's -- when they arrested him, police said.

In his pockets, police say they found jewelry stolen from the victim's mother and a bullet like the one that killed the victim.

Kirk Cartwright faces a possible death sentence if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

He was to go to trial last month when a fellow jail inmate made a shocking confession: Cartwright didn't shoot the victim, Andres Romero. He did.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070515b?opendocument 4F57CAF0-F1B1-4CCA-9B66-DE8CF4722754 Mon, 14 May 2007 17:21:19 -0400 U.S. Won’t Limit Detainees’ Visits With Attorneys - May 12, 2007

The New York Times
By William Glaberson

The Justice Department yesterday withdrew one of its proposals to tighten restrictions on lawyers representing detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but said it would continue to press a federal appeals court for other limitations on the lawyers.

In a court filing yesterday morning, department lawyers said they were no longer asking the appeals court in Washington to limit the lawyers to three visits with detainees at the Guantánamo naval base, where about 380 men are now held.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/legislation/detainee009?opendocument FB615167-A2CA-4C33-B3C2-5EC0482EEE45 Sat, 12 May 2007 17:18:40 -0400 Let's Not Throw Away A Young Person's Future - May 6, 2007

Richmond Times Dispatch
By Melissa Coretz Goeman

During the first hour of 2007, Henrico teen Sarah Ann Haislip is alleged to have been drinking and driving with tragic results. Recently, Henrico Circuit Court Judge L.A. Harris Jr. effectively overturned the Henrico juvenile court's ruling that 16-year-old Haislip should be tried as a juvenile. Judge Harris decided that Haislip -- whom the juvenile court found had never been in trouble before, was a responsible student, and appeared to be an excellent candidate for rehabilitation -- needed to be tried and possibly sentenced in the same manner as adult felons.

Harris' ruling means that the tragic mistake that has already claimed one life will likely destroy another.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070508b?opendocument 1ECCCAFE-17E9-479A-8335-D4B243A65F53 Sun, 6 May 2007 10:43:28 -0400 Border Crackdown Jams US Federal Courts - May 7, 2007

Christian Science Monitor
By Faye Bowers

The US government's crackdown on illegal immigration is resulting in so many more felony charges against foreigners that the federal courts serving the Southwest border are overwhelmed and reaching for the panic button.

The rising caseloads in five US district courts are a direct result of the beefed-up border patrol. Though tighter border security is deterring illegal entry, resulting in fewer arrests, border agents now have the manpower and resources to be vigilant about checking those in custody for criminal connections and outstanding warrants. They are also increasingly filing more-serious felony charges against repeat border-crossers, sending those cases straight to US district courts in the border area.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070508a?opendocument 07B117FC-9F5A-4671-98CB-5D4F0FA6B68E Tue, 8 May 2007 10:36:38 -0400 US Sentencing Commission Announces Reduction in Crack Cocaine Sentences - May 4, 2007

Drug War Chronicle

In an annual report sent to Congress Monday, the US Sentencing Commission announced it had amended federal sentencing guidelines to lower the sentences imposed on people convicted of federal crack cocaine offenses. Unless Congress takes affirmative action to block the move, it will go into effect on November 1. The report also urged Congress to address the 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070507b?opendocument E03F4EAE-46FF-49C3-8B82-24FF4EE4CCE8 Mon, 7 May 2007 18:09:48 -0400 Botched Raid Won't Change Judges' Policy; It's a Cop Problem, Fulton Says - May 5, 2007

Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Beth Warren

Before a team of heavily armed Atlanta narcotics officers burst into a frightened 92-year-old woman's home and killed her in a shootout, they first had to get permission from a Fulton County judge.

Now that two officers in that case have admitting lying to Magistrate Kimberly Warden to win their search warrant, a spokeswoman for the magistrates was clear on their stance: That's not our problem.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070507a?opendocument EBC6FF8A-9C0D-40B2-9F82-10BC4DF7AD53 Mon, 7 May 2007 18:07:45 -0400 Many Detainees at Guantánamo Rebuff Lawyers - May 5, 2007

The New York Times
By William Glaberson

Many of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, are no longer cooperating with their lawyers, adding a largely invisible struggle between the lawyers and their own clients to the legal battle over the Bush administration’s detention policies.

Some detainees refuse to see their lawyers, while others decline mail from their lawyers or refuse to provide them information on their cases, according to court documents, writings of some of the detainees and recent interviews.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/legislation/detainee008?opendocument 88409691-67B2-453A-AAC1-C9070D39BDED Mon, 7 May 2007 18:06:06 -0400 Exonerations Change How Justice System Builds a Prosecution; DNA Tests Have Cleared 200 Convicts May 3, 2007

The Washington Post
By Darryl Fears

Jerry Miller is the newest poster child of the wrongfully convicted, the 200th to be exonerated by DNA evidence -- after he spent 25 years behind bars in Illinois for a rape he did not commit.

But Miller, a black man, hardly stands out in the crowd of the exonerated. Of the 200 people whose convictions have been overturned as a result of DNA evidence since 1989, 60 percent have been black or Latino, according to the Innocence Project, a liberal organization that works to free the wrongfully convicted. Of those exonerated after a rape conviction, 85 percent were black men accused of assaulting a white woman.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/innocence070?opendocument 1A668CC9-0DF3-4A24-8754-E672D549C51A Mon, 7 May 2007 18:03:29 -0400 Spying on Americans - May 2, 2007

The New York Times
Editorial

For more than five years, President Bush authorized government spying on phone calls and e-mail to and from the United States without warrants. He rejected offers from Congress to update the electronic eavesdropping law, and stonewalled every attempt to investigate his spying program.

Suddenly, Mr. Bush is in a hurry. He has submitted a bill that would enact enormous, and enormously dangerous, changes to the 1978 law on eavesdropping. It would undermine the fundamental constitutional principle - over which there can be no negotiation or compromise - that the government must seek an individual warrant before spying on an American or someone living here legally.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/legislation//NSA026?OpenDocument 496E3D79-B214-4EE5-8D2D-375464177359 Thu, 3 May 2007 11:08:26 -0400 Death and Innocence: Capital Punishment Is On The Decline, Largely Because of DNA Testing And Its Ramifications For the Legal System - April 28, 2007

The National Journal
By Gregg Sangillo

At first glance, the decline of the death penalty in the United States is somewhat surprising.

In the 1990s, death sentences and executions reached peak levels in the wake of the Supreme Court's 1976 reinstatement of capital punishment, after a four-year gap. Public support for the death penalty has declined since 1994, according to the Gallup Poll, but still stood at 67 percent last year.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/Innocence068 53F72A0F-9B8D-4732-B4D4-0A250C81E0D0 Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:39:16 -0400 Law Day Is Good Time to Reflect on Indigent Defense System - May 1, 2007

Kalamazoo Gazette
By Richard Kupferschmidt

Every year when May 1 rolls around I take some time to think about what makes me proud to be an attorney. That's because May 1 is Law Day, and Law Day is the time when everyone is supposed to take pride in the rule of law, our court system and the legal profession generally. This May 1, being no exception, I plan to think about a local attorney named Bill Culver. Bill died in 1993. He left us a legacy I think all of us can be proud of.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070502a?opendocument 0337D4F4-5232-4EE6-8522-EAE14B6977E9 Tue, 1 May 2007 15:35:49 -0400 The 200th Reason to Test DNA - April 25, 2007

The Chicago Tribune
By Clarence Page

In a statistic that is both gratifying and horrifying, an Army veteran from Chicago is the 200th person to be exonerated by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project, a non-profit New York-based legal clinic.

That's gratifying because justice -- long denied to innocents like Jerry Miller, 48, and the 199 others who were exonerated before him -- finally has been served. But Miller's good news is also horrifying in the questions it raises about flaws in our nation's criminal justice system.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/innocence067?OpenDocument BDF44D93-12DB-44F0-A871-B0814937E2CE Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:10:18 -0400 ‘Crack’ Guideline Long Overdue, Criminal Lawyers Say - April 28, 2007

NACDL Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has fought for fairness in drug sentencing since the first set of U.S. Sentencing Guidelines was drafted 20 years ago. NACDL has actively participated in the guidelines comment and amendment process continuously since then. On May 1, the Sentencing Commission will send an amendment to the cocaine base ("crack") guideline to Congress which will bring some small measure of fairness back into drug sentences, and NACDL supports the new guideline as a sensible and progressive first step toward ending the unfair disparity in cocaine sentencing.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/newsreleases/2007mn012?opendocument AC1D6D0F-5DCC-4403-AA75-38F778A0E899 Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:07:43 -0400 Public Defenders, Prosecutors Face a Crisis in Funding - March 27, 2007

The National Law Journal
By Vesna Jaksic

There's one thing Eric Affholter has no shortage of: new faces.

In the last 3 1/2 years, the head of the St. Louis public defender's office has seen 36 attorneys exit an office that employs 28 defenders.

With starting salaries of $35,148, most new lawyers have law school loans double or triple the size of their annual pay, so they can't afford to stay on the job, he said.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070327a?opendocument 29D8E410-7D55-4DAB-AA4E-8C9206F231A2 Thu, 5 Apr 2007 08:57:01 -0400 Gates Calls for Guantanamo Closure - March 30, 2007

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Congress and the administration of President George W. Bush should work together to allow the U.S. to permanently imprison some of the more dangerous Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere so the facility can be closed, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

Gates said the challenge is figuring out what to do with hard-core detainees who have "made very clear they will come back and attack this country."

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/legislation/detainee007 1F884432-003C-46C2-A810-C76FA30208A1 Thu, 5 Apr 2007 08:55:27 -0400 Governor Amends Bill Raising Court-Appointed Attorney Pay - March 27, 2007

Associated Press
By Larry O'Dell

RICHMOND, Va. -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine likely averted a federal class-action lawsuit by proposing an amendment expanding legislation to improve pay for attorneys appointed to represent poor people, an official with the organization that threatened to sue said Tuesday.

Kaine's amendment would allow judges to waive caps on court-appointed lawyers' fees in juvenile court and for representing indigent adults charged with misdemeanors in general district court. Legislation passed by the General Assembly raised the caps across the board but limited the waiver to adult felony cases in circuit court.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/Virginia098 1F3658FF-12B7-4628-8E14-0E1E1DA9E739 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:25:28 -0400 Public Defenders, Prosecutors Face a Crisis in Funding - March 27, 2007

The National Law Journal
By Vesna Jaksic

There's one thing Eric Affholter has no shortage of: new faces.

In the last 3 1/2 years, the head of the St. Louis public defender's office has seen 36 attorneys exit an office that employs 28 defenders.

With starting salaries of $35,148, most new lawyers have law school loans double or triple the size of their annual pay, so they can't afford to stay on the job, he said.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070327a?opendocument B8C2644E-06A3-430F-BF5F-5EE9EBDEDEF7 Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:27:11 -0400 Independence Key To Indigent Defense, Speakers Insist - March 27, 2007

The New York Law Journal
By Joel Stashenko

ALBANY - Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye's proposal to standardize indigent legal services across New York is doomed if the agency presiding over the new system is not fiscally independent, experts agreed yesterday.

Members of a panel assembled by the New York State Bar Association for a discussion of the future of indigent defense in New York insisted that a proposed indigent defense commission could not function effectively if it is not insulated from fiscal and partisan politics.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070327d 7183C625-A055-4EA7-952B-D5FC119AE53E Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:25:28 -0400 Aide to Gonzales Won't Testify
Counselor Cites Fifth Amendment Right in Refusal - March 27, 2007

The Washington Post
By Dan Eggen

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's senior counselor yesterday refused to testify in the Senate about her involvement in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Monica M. Goodling, who has taken an indefinite leave of absence, said in a sworn affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she will "decline to answer any and all questions" about the firings because she faces "a perilous environment in which to testify."

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070327c ADD4D90D-7385-4F1F-AC02-A38962A28E6B Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:23:37 -0400 Plea of Guilty From Detainee in Guantánamo - March 27, 2007

The New York Times
By William Glaberson

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, March 26 - In the first conviction of a Guantánamo detainee before a military commission, an Australian who was trained by Al Qaeda pleaded guilty here Monday to providing material support to a terrorist organization.

The guilty plea by the detainee, David Hicks, was the first under a new military commission law passed by Congress in the fall after the Supreme Court struck down the Bush administration’s first system for trying inmates at Guantánamo.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/legislation/detainee006 64E1FC60-0CF9-492D-AC37-4E0DCD3EEA42 Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:20:41 -0400 Report: All Charges Against Duke Lacrosse Players to Be Dropped Soon - March 23, 2007

Fox News

The remaining charges against three Duke University lacrosse players originally indicted for rape may be dropped sometime within the next few days, according to a report.

Inside Lacrosse Magazine writer Paul Caulfield told FOX News on Thursday that several sources have revealed to him that the assault and attempted kidnapping charges still pending against Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y.; Dave Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md.; and Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Falls, N.J., will soon be dropped.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070323a 787758EC-6783-4EF8-ADA2-D6AF1967FD5F Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:15:33 -0400 House Panel Authorizes Subpoenas Of Officials
White House Again Says Aides Will Not Testify - March 22, 2007

Washington Post
By Jonathan Weisman and Paul Kane

A House panel authorized subpoenas yesterday for top White House and Justice Department aides, including White House counselor Karl Rove, setting up a constitutional clash with the Bush administration over the U.S. attorneys investigation.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070322a D546E3FD-DD2A-49D9-8D24-9A5C51998000 Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:49:14 -0400 Advocates for Young Offenders Want More Protections
Prosecutor Defends Current System - March 21, 2007

Associated Press
By Will Lester

WASHINGTON -- Young offenders end up in adult jails too often, increasing the odds they will be repeat offenders and move on to more serious crimes, say advocates pushing for changes in how teens are treated by the justice system.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070322b 09EC2775-1D13-4F02-863B-B60954D7138A Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:20:35 -0400 'Romeo' May Get Off Sex Registry - March 20, 2007

St. Petersburg Times
By Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler

TALLAHASSEE - There are dangerous sex offenders, and then there are young people in love.

There are 40-year-old men who prey on young children, and then there are 19-year-old guys and their 15-year-old girlfriends.

But Florida's sex offender registry laws don't differentiate between such cases. Moreover, a new federal law requires Florida juveniles found at fault in sex crimes to register - even if they weren't tried as adults.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/sl_docs.nsf/freeform/sex_offender025?opendocument 19625613-6EC0-4640-830D-32B5EBD1DB8B Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:49:35 -0400 FBI Violations May Number 3,000, Official Says - March 21, 2007

Washington Post
By R. Jeffrey Smith

The Justice Department's inspector general told a committee of angry House members yesterday that the FBI may have violated the law or government policies as many as 3,000 times since 2003 as agents secretly collected the telephone, bank and credit card records of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals residing here.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070321a 191D807A-D1D9-4E20-AC69-B1E6EBE215DC Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:23:42 -0400 It Wasn’t Just a Bad Idea. It May Have Been Against the Law - March 19, 2007

The New York Times
By Adam Cohen

The Bush administration has done a terrible job of explaining its decision to fire eight United States attorneys. Story after story has proved to be untrue: that the prosecutors who were fired were poor performers; that the White House was not involved in the purge. But the administration has been strangely successful in pushing its message that the scandal is at worst a political misdeed, not a criminal matter.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070320a 60F54EAC-26C8-4CED-8FF2-ADF13D610EB7 Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:52:40 -0400 Amid Concerns, FBI Lapses Went On
Records Collection Brought Internal Questions But Little Scrutiny - March 18, 2007

Washington Post
By R. Jeffrey Smith and John Solomon

FBI counterterrorism officials continued to use flawed procedures to obtain thousands of U.S. telephone records during a two-year period when bureau lawyers and managers were expressing escalating concerns about the practice, according to senior FBI and Justice Department officials and documents.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/legislation//NSA023?OpenDocument A78D37C4-DCCB-4636-9DBB-6895647BCA2C Sun, 18 Mar 2007 13:47:46 -0400 U.S. Attorney Appointment Deemed Legal
Judge Finds Prosecutor’s Status Not Issue in Death-Penalty Case - March 17, 2007

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
By Linda Satter

LITTLE ROCK--A judge on Friday denied a Little Rock attorney’s request to declare the appointment of Tim Griffin as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele said in a 25-page ruling that, "Whether good policy or not," a change in federal law that many say was surreptitiously slipped into last year’s reauthorization of the USAPATRIOT Act was authorized by Congress.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070320c C9271039-AB9A-4874-AB65-A1DEFD3EAECB Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:43:40 -0400 N.J. State Police Require Oversight - March 15, 2007

Trenton Times
By William H. Buckman and Deborah Jacobs

Gov. Jon Corzine recently appointed an Advisory Committee on Police Standards to examine police practices statewide, with the central task of determining whether the state police should be released from the federal monitoring imposed on it for its role in racial profiling of motorists.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070320b D8732DD9-011D-473B-895D-5E8A83F66714 Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:41:17 -0400 Attorney Scandal Threatens Gonzales' Job - March 19, 2007

Legal Times
By Jason McLure and T.R. Goldman

The damage is done. The Justice Department's top two officials gave misleading information to Congress under oath. The attorney general's chief of staff has resigned, and the job security of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is in serious doubt.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070319a D4362B06-A4ED-4A67-9179-5E088CF5A5D7 Tue, 20 Mar 2007 09:33:51 -0400 Defense Lawyers Urge Investigation Into U.S. Attorney Dismissals - March 14, 2007

NACDL Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC - In light of recent revelations regarding the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys by persons in the Attorney General’s office and the White House, President Martin S. Pinales of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers today made the following statement:

"As concerned as we are about politically-motivated dismissals, we have greater concerns with the chilling effect upon other U.S. Attorneys whose independence was threatened by this unprecedented attempt to commandeer America’s criminal justice system."

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/newsreleases/2007mn010?OpenDocument 783F1BFE-E97A-484B-AB9D-158B9B7CBEBE Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:09:19 -0400 Gonzales Accepts Resignation of Top Aide - March 13, 2007

Associated Press
By Lara Jakes Jordan and Deb Riechmann

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales abruptly canceled travel plans Tuesday amid growing calls for his ouster over the firings of eight federal prosecutors during a White House-directed housecleaning of U.S. attorneys. Gonzales also accepted the resignation of his top aide, Kyle Sampson, who authorities said failed to brief other senior Justice Department officials of his discussions about the firings with then-White House counsel Harriet Miers. Miers resigned in January.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070313a 579FEC48-0586-4E0F-82DF-17383C797A17 Tue, 13 Mar 2007 16:41:09 -0400 Wrong Turn on Sex Offenders - March 13, 2007

The New York Times
Editorial

With little public discussion and no opposition to speak of, Gov. Eliot Spitzer has made New York the latest state to travel down a murky legal road, to a place where laws are made not in response to facts, but to wishfulness and fear. It is a place where prisoners who finish their sentences remain locked up for crimes they might commit, submitting to psychological treatment that nearly always fails and whose only sure outcome is the open-ended spending of tens of millions of dollars a year.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/sl_docs.nsf/freeform/sex_offender024?opendocument CBE822EE-8809-4092-B8E8-9F0228D94372 Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:28:27 -0400 State Helping Attorneys For Indigents - March 12, 2007

The Free Lance-Star
By Chelyen Davis

RICHMOND--Attorneys who do indigent-defense work are lauding additional funding given to the system by the governor and legislature in the just-ended session. The General Assembly budgeted $8 million in additional money for court-appointed attorneys, who in Virginia are the lowest-paid in the nation. It's not a lot of money, but the legislature also passed a bill allowing judges to waive the caps on fees paid to court-appointed attorneys, which is being heralded as a big improvement.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/Virginia094 32F03EC4-F688-4470-B115-15F6913E1DB2 Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:47:07 -0400 Legal Groups Call For Indigent Defense Reforms in N.Y. - March 8, 2007
The Daily Record

A leading group of New York State attorneys gathered Tuesday in support of Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye's call for a state takeover and overhaul of public defense services. The gathering came on the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. Gideon, along with the 1965 state case of People v. Witenski, which extended similar constitutional protections in New York, called on the state to "honor its history of commitment to equal justice," a release from Malkin & Ross states.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/newyork051 DEB88A21-2EE2-4D7E-BFDF-C5C4753FD16E Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:45:27 -0400 NACDL Adopts Report of Sex Offender Policy Task Force - March 2, 2007

On March 24, at the Midwinter meeting in San Diego, NACDL's Board of Directors unanimously approved a third and final draft of the Sex Offender Task Force Report. The task force was created by Past President Barbara Bergman at last year's Spring meeting in Philadelphia in response to requests from members and staff for clear policy guidance on a variety of sex offender-related issues, such as punishment, treatment, registration and a host of collateral consequences.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/sl_docs.nsf/issues/sexoffender_attachments/$FILE/SexOffenderPolicy.pdf 9DF9604A-7B40-45DA-B4CF-71F02D4711A3 Fri, 2 Mar 2007 11:05:55 -0500 Supreme Court Says Cross-Examination Rule Not Retroactive - March 1, 2007

The Associated Press
By Mark Sherman

The Supreme Court unanimously reinstated a Nevada child molester's conviction Wednesday in a decision that continued the justices' refusal to apply recent rulings on criminal procedure to older cases.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070301a?opendocument E83B574D-398D-4292-A1CE-E7C4F960514A Thu, 1 Mar 2007 12:21:47 -0500 Stop Cutting Corners On Justice - March 1, 2007

Detroit Free Press
Editorial

Michigan has failed to provide adequate legal defense for poor people because of scandalously low pay for court-appointed attorneys and a lack of uniform standards and state oversight. The state's patchwork indigent-defense system, with each county doing its own thing without state support, often denies justice to those who can't afford to hire their own lawyers.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/DefenseUpdates/Michigan021 6237E5CB-1529-4DCC-B619-1419FF98C2CE Thu, 1 Mar 2007 12:20:15 -0500 U.S. Judge Finds Padilla Competent to Face Trial - March 1, 2007

The New York Times
By Deborah Sontag

MIAMI, Feb. 28 - A federal judge found Jose Padilla competent to stand trial on terrorism conspiracy charges Wednesday, granting a significant victory to the government in the high-profile criminal case of a United States citizen who was initially designated an "enemy combatant" and held without charges.

After three and a half days of an intensely argued hearing, Judge Marcia G. Cooke of Federal District Court rejected the defense lawyers’ request that Mr. Padilla be sent to a hospital for psychiatric treatment so that he could be "healed" from what they said was post-traumatic stress disorder caused during his three years and eight months in military detention.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/legislation/detainee004 88415D29-D5AA-4974-A112-14718D494CEB Thu, 1 Mar 2007 12:18:21 -0500 Judge Dismisses Juror in Libby Trial - Feb. 27, 2007

The New York Times
By Neil A. Lewis

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 - The judge presiding over the perjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. dismissed one of the jurors in the midst of deliberations Monday and ruled that the case should go forward with the remaining 11-member jury.

The judge, Reggie B. Walton, said the dismissed juror had improperly learned some information about the case outside of the courtroom, but he did not explain further. Judge Walton said it appeared the juror had not done so intentionally but through some unspecified misunderstanding.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070227a?opendocument 17A56FCB-CF24-4511-AB23-569F42D82181 Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:15:46 -0500 Lawyers For Poor May Say Enough is Enough - Feb. 27, 2007

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By William C. Lhotka

Missouri's overloaded public defender system is threatening to stop taking new cases, an unprecedented move that could put courts from St. Louis to Kansas City into turmoil.

With an average workload of 305 cases, the lawyers who represent 80 percent of the state's criminal defendants say they are buckling as new cases flood in.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/missouri018 41E7EA81-6E55-463B-9CD9-10EF9F23FF92 Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:13:32 -0500 Bills Lift Fee Caps for Defense Attorneys Court-Appointed Attorneys' Low Pay Can Hurt Cases, Legal Experts Say - Feb. 27, 2007

Richmond Times-Dispatch
By Jim Nolan

Lost in the Virginia legislature's debate about a slavery apology and roads funding was the unanimous approval of a bill that will fundamentally change how most people charged with crimes are defended in state courts. Twin bills approved by the House and the Senate last week will allow judges to lift the cap on the fees the state pays court-appointed defense attorneys. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is expected to sign the legislation.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/virginia087?opendocument 3DEE6A7A-8762-4B4A-8839-56AA14E43236 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:02:05 -0500 States Create More Registries to Track, Deter Criminals - Feb. 26, 2007

Associated Press
By Todd Richmond

MADISON, Wis. - Police found 29-year-old Leah Gustafson in a pool of blood in her apartment last year. Next to her was her collector sword. She'd been stabbed through the heart.

A blood trail led police in Superior, Wis., to an apartment across the street, where her killer, Jason Borelli, had just gotten out of the shower. Borelli got life in prison.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/sl_docs.nsf/freeform/sex_offender023?OpenDocument E0CE38B1-AF03-4757-AB33-161B54C44F0D Mon, 26 Feb 2007 14:17:55 -0500 Lawsuit Says State Doesn't Spend Enough on Public Defenders - Feb. 22, 2007

The Associated Press
By David Eggert

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Advocates for poor criminal defendants sued the state Thursday, accusing it of failing to spend enough money on public defenders in violation of the U.S. and Michigan constitutions. The suit was filed on behalf of defendants who can't afford private lawyers and rely on public defenders in three counties, but it seeks class-action status and aims to improve the indigent defense system statewide. "The state has turned its back on this crisis," said Michael Steinberg, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. "We can no longer ignore Michigan's broken justice system. It must be fixed."

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/DefenseUpdates/Michigan015 FCD980B3-1514-4BB9-912E-09D94BFB47FE Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:58:53 -0500 In Wake of Seven Firings, Branches Clash Over Interim U.S. Attorney Nominees - Feb. 13, 2007

The National Law journal
By Marcia Coyle

The old way of appointing interim U.S. Attorneys was constitutionally sound, many legal experts agree. And the new way of appointing interim U.S. Attorneys is constitutionally sound, they add. The only real question now for the U.S. Senate is what is the best way of appointing those officers -- constitutionally and otherwise.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070214a?opendocument B64D8F52-EECA-4B0F-B411-0C5B4CA223E9 Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:37:36 -0500 Experts say DNA evidence alone may not be enough for convictions - Feb. 13, 2007

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Tim O'Neiland and William C. Lhotka

Police announce a DNA match in an old murder case. Bingo, says the public.

But how close is "bingo" to conviction?

Perhaps farther than people think, according to prosecutors and defense attorneys who say a DNA match alone may not deliver the goods....

Norman Gahn, a prosecutor in Milwaukee who is regarded nationally as an expert in DNA-based criminal cases, said Monday through a spokeswoman that he does not know of any murder or rape conviction based solely on DNA evidence.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/mediasources/20070214b?opendocument EE2DADE5-7E9C-4101-96F7-CC240F94F2DD Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:26:16 -0500 The Needle and the Damage Done - Feb. 11, 2007

The New York Times
By Elizabeth Weil

On a warm spring day last June in Kansas City, a doctor identified only as John Doe No. 1 sat behind a screen to testify in the case of Michael Anthony Taylor v. Larry Crawford on his practice of executing prisoners by lethal injection for the State of Missouri. To protect the doctor’s identity, only five people were in the room — the judge, one lawyer for each side, the court reporter and John Doe No. 1.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/deathpenalty033?opendocument 39C39407-D492-4466-A766-277A1A10F520 Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:30:57 -0500 D.C. Circuit Vacates Officer’s ‘Gratuity’ Conviction

- Washington, DC - (Feb. 9, 2007)--- After a 6-year struggle, a veteran D.C. police detective has been cleared of wrongdoing by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a case that could affect overzealous public corruption prosecutions nationwide. Metropolitan Police Detective Nelson Valdes’ conviction for accepting an illegal gratuity was vacated for the second time today on a vote of 7-5 in an en banc decision. A panel of the court reversed Valdes’ conviction last year on a 2-1 vote, but the government requested that the full 12-member court rehear the case....

]]> http://www.nacdl.org 89DBECA4-3BDD-4AFE-A637-1B9AC646992D Fri, 9 Feb 2007 15:02:48 -0500 Attorneys say lineup report thwarts reforms, sue police for data - Feb. 8, 2007

The Associated Press
By Michael Tarm

CHICAGO - Criminal defense attorneys say an Illinois report is undermining nationwide efforts to reform what they call deeply flawed police lineup procedures where witnesses view suspects standing together in the same room. The attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday that seeks to force several Illinois police departments to release data used for the 2006 report that the attorneys say criticizes a new method, in which witnesses are shown potential suspects one at a time. "There's a concerted effort to use Illinois to thwart reforms around the country," said Scott Ehlers, of the Washington D.C.-based National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which is the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

]]> http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/16655646.htm 26311A2F-6EA8-4E9C-BF3D-373826244DC1 Fri, 9 Feb 2007 12:32:39 -0500 National Legal Group Files Lawsuit Challenging Illinois Police Defense of Traditional Lineups - Chicago, IL , Feb. 8, 2007

Citing wrongful convictions due to mistaken eyewitness identification and the urgent need to reform traditional police eyewitness identification procedures, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), in conjunction with the MacArthur Justice Center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern University School of Law, filed a civil lawsuit today against the Illinois police departments who participated in a controversial study of eyewitnesses and police lineups.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/newsreleases/2007mn007?OpenDocument 47E91CE4-B65E-4ECD-A009-7FF56C4881A2 Thu, 8 Feb 2007 11:29:07 -0500 Lawyers group to sue cops over police lineup study - Chicago Sun-Times, Feb. 8, 2007

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is expected to file a lawsuit today against the State Police and the Chicago, Joliet and Evanston police departments for allegedly failing to turn over research for a controversial study on witnesses who appear before police lineups. The study found traditional lineups -- in which suspects stand in a room together -- are more effective than new procedures in which witnesses view one suspect at a time under the supervision of an officer who does not know the identity of the suspect. The association questions the study's findings, according to a statement.

]]> http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/248847,CST-NWS-metro08.article D125EADB-3F38-4C72-88E3-33C71026FD7A Thu, 8 Feb 2007 11:24:54 -0500 Lawsuit Challenges Chicago Police Defense of Traditional Lineups

- February 7, 2007

New Analysis Finds 54 Innocent Illinois Citizens Have Spent Total of 601 Years in Prison Because of Erroneous Eyewitness Convictions.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers will file a lawsuit tomorrow against the Chicago police and other Illinois police departments that participated in a controversial study of eyewitness and police lineups.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/newsreleases/2007mn006?OpenDocument 083E5283-7619-4E64-8C14-945260CCB179 Wed, 7 Feb 2007 15:12:35 -0500 Judges Pose Questions on Bush Detainee Policy - Feb. 2, 2007

The New York Times
By Adam Liptak

RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 1 - In a series of probing and sometimes testy exchanges with a government lawyer, two of three judges on a federal appeals court panel here indicated Thursday that they might not be prepared to accept the Bush administration’s claim that it has the unilateral power to detain people it calls enemy combatants.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org 1A11EB98-5259-491F-9B61-C2837D9AC8C0 Mon, 5 Feb 2007 12:47:58 -0500 Poster of Hussein at Guantánamo Draws Detainee Complaints

-New York Times

Military officials have removed a poster of Saddam Hussein from the American detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, after complaints from a detainee that it was intended to intimidate the prisoners there. Lawyers for the detainee said the 7-by-3-foot poster, in a small recreation area for prisoners, featured images of Mr. Hussein being sentenced to death and a heading in Arabic that stated, Because Saddam chose not to cooperate and not to tell the truth, because he thought by lying he would get released, for that reason he was executed. Other articles described the accidental decapitation of a Hussein co-defendant in a subsequent hanging. I have no doubt that those were put up for a particular reason, said Joshua L. Dratel, one of Mr. Hicks’s lawyers. For psychological warfare and for mental torture and intimidation.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org B614E72D-C7DB-4123-A0BC-DCD594F0976E Sat, 3 Feb 2007 15:51:35 -0500 Pentagon Official Quits Over Lawyer Remarks
- By CAROL ROSENBERG, crosenberg@MiamiHerald.com

A senior Pentagon official has resigned, it was disclosed today, three weeks after he ignited a firestorm of controversy by casting fellow lawyers as dishonorable for offering free-of-charge legal service to U.S.-held captives at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Charles D. ''Cully'' Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, submitted his resignation Thursday, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. No replacement has been named. But it comes at a crucial time. The Pentagon is gearing up to announce new charges and stage new war crimes tribunals called military commissions against at least a few of the 395 of so foreigners held in remote Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org FA2C14D7-8759-4BF5-BBCA-2F1BAAA8076B Fri, 2 Feb 2007 16:54:27 -0500 Native Americans on Trial Often Go Without Counsel - Feb. 1, 2007
Wall Street Journal

The right of defendants to legal counsel is guaranteed by the Constitution. But due to a little-known quirk in federal law, Native Americans aren't assured this protection. That's because under U.S. law, Indian tribes are considered sovereign nations, and are not subject to all privileges afforded by the Bill of Rights.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org 92DB09F0-A477-4239-9448-92891B8011DC Fri, 2 Feb 2007 12:40:15 -0500 Gonzales to Release Spy Program Details

- Jan. 31, 2007
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday he will turn over secret documents detailing the government's domestic spying program, ending a two-week standoff with the Senate Judiciary Committee over surveillance targeting terror suspects. ''It's never been the case where we said we would never provide the access,'' Gonzales told reporters. "'We'd obviously be concerned about (how) the public disclosure may jeopardize the national security of our country,'' he said. ''But we're working with the Congress to provide the information that it needs.'' The documents held by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court -- including investigators' applications for permission to spy and judges' orders -- will be given to some lawmakers as early as Wednesday. Gonzales said the documents would not be released publicly. ''We're talking about highly classified discussions about highly classified actions of the United States government,'' the attorney general said.
]]> http://www.nacdl.org FF8D5711-A991-48E6-82B9-617B50FC5BB4 Fri, 2 Feb 2007 11:44:58 -0500 Eyewitness Guidelines Urged After Man Freed - Jan. 28, 2007

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution By Carlos Campos

Willie O. "Pete" Williams' recent release after more than 21 years in prison on a wrongful rape conviction has put a face on an issue once again before the Georgia Legislature: faulty eyewitness identifications. Williams, 44, was picked out of a photo lineup by a victim who testified in court that she was "120" percent certain he was the man who raped her. But DNA evidence later proved he was not guilty of the crime. All six of the men whose convictions have been thrown out by DNA evidence in Georgia were prosecuted based on eyewitness testimony, said Aimee Maxwell, executive director of the Georgia Innocence Project, which investigates allegations of wrongful convictions.

]]> http://www.nacdl.org 30262AAF-3AB1-46D2-8284-B196CE574835 Sun, 28 Jan 2007 14:15:49 -0500