Access to The Champion archive is one of many exclusive member benefits. It’s normally restricted to just NACDL members. However, this content, and others like it, is available to everyone in order to educate the public on why criminal justice reform is a necessity.
As I close my term as NACDL’s president, I want to share my enormous pride at what has been a year of extraordinary accomplishment for our Association.
Collateral Consequences: More than three years ago, NACDL’s Task Force on Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction began to work diligently to research the problems caused by collateral consequences and to develop solutions. And in late May, the task force’s efforts culminated with the release of Collateral Damage: America’s Failure to Forgive or Forget in the War on Crime – A Roadmap to Restore Rights and Status After Arrest or Conviction.
The release of the report was a banner moment for NACDL and brought due attention to one of the most important issues facing not just the criminal justice system, but the nation as a whole. Media coverage of the report has included a New York Times editorial backing its recommendations; a story on NPR’s “All Things Considered”; and articles in the New York Daily News, the Washington Post, and a host of other publications. I attended the report launch and it was one of my proudest days as an NACDL member. The report provides policy makers and other advocates with the tools and ideas necessary for change. I hope it will be an important step in the march to reform.
Veterans and the Criminal Justice System:As a veteran of the Vietnam War, I have long been disappointed by how America’s criminal justice system treats veterans. As NACDL’s president, I therefore made it my goal to bring special attention to our veterans. The NACDL Executive Committee retreat last August focused on veterans’ issues and NACDL’s September mental health symposium in Denver featured a special training on litigating combat veterans’ mental impairment issues in criminal court. NACDL also recorded a webcast training on Defending Veterans in Criminal Court. Our expert faculty for the webcast was criminal defense lawyer Brockton Hunter of Minneapolis, Minn., and veterans justice outreach specialist for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Karen Carrington. I attended the filming and it was fantastic. The presentation is a major tool in helping defense lawyers improve the quality of representation offered to veterans in the criminal justice system.
Clemency Project 2014: One of the most exciting developments during the past year was certainly the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) announcement, in late April, of a new set of criteria that it and the White House will use when considering clemency petitions from federal prisoners. This move has the potential to affect hundreds, perhaps thousands, of federal prisoners who, if they had been sentenced today, would likely have received shorter prison terms. The DOJ called on the bar to assist with this initiative and NACDL immediately rose to the occasion, partnering with other distinguished organizations to form Clemency Project 2014. Cynthia W. Roseberry, formerly the executive director of the Federal Defenders of the Middle District of Georgia, Inc., was appointed project manager for Clemency Project 2014. She is currently leading Clemency Project 2014’s effort to organize and train the hundreds of lawyers who will participate in this massive and important pro bono effort, which will provide representation for those seeking clemency.
Indigent Defense: When I began my term as president, the federal indigent defense system was in crisis. A series of broad budget cuts resulting from sequestration endangered what had previously been upheld as a model of how a hybrid system of adequately resourced defenders and private lawyers should function. NACDL responded to this threat by holding events on Capitol Hill, corresponding with congressional leadership, issuing news releases to raise public awareness, creating a Task Force on Federal Indigent Defense, and advocating on a host of other fronts. NACDL’s efforts, in concert with many others, bore fruit. Following the resolution of the federal sequestration crisis, with congressional restoration of pre-sequestration funding for Defender Services, in February the Judicial Conference Executive Committee approved a spending plan that returned CJA rates to their previous levels. But the ordeal, which wreaked havoc in federal defender offices across the nation, undermined confidence in the federal indigent defense infrastructure. NACDL’s Task Force on Federal Indigent Defense will continue to study the system and will in the coming months issue a report that will help guide NACDL’s advocacy for a strong federal indigent defense system. Further, NACDL’s work in the indigent defense arena remains keenly focused on state indigent defense systems across the country that remain underfunded and underresourced. NACDL will continue to fight for expanded access to quality counsel and improved access to resources and support for both public and private defenders who serve the indigent accused.
In March, NACDL also issued the second part in its “Gideon at 50” series. Redefining Indigence: Financial Eligibility Guidelines for Assigned Counsel demonstrates how the ways states define indigence are often inconsistent with ABA standards for providing defense services. It is a critical report that underscores just how precarious indigent defense systems are in this country.
Amicus Advocacy: In an exciting moment for the defense bar, the Supreme Court decision in Riley v. California and United States v. Wurie delivered a major victory for the Fourth Amendment. The Court ruled that, unless there are exigent circumstances, law enforcement must obtain a warrant before searching an arrestee’s cellphone. NACDL can be particularly proud of this outcome, as the Association filed amicus briefs in both Riley and Wurie. Of course, Riley and Wurie were just two of the dozens of cases in which NACDL filed amicus briefs over the past year. Filing such briefs remains one of the defense bar’s most important advocacy tools. And I am continuously impressed by the superb briefs produced by NACDL’s amicus authors.
Overcriminalization: NACDL filed an amicus brief supporting a cert petition in Yates v. United States, which addresses the issue of overcriminalization in the federal code. In April, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and will do so during its October 2014 term. I’ll be watching Yates closely.
NACDL’s efforts to halt the overcriminalization epidemic also continued with its ongoing involvement with the Overcriminalization Task Force of the House Judiciary Committee. In June, NACDL Secretary Rick Jones, who is also the executive director of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and co-chair of NACDL’s Task Force on the Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction, testified at the eighth hearing.
Other Accomplishments: In June, NACDL sent a team to Liberia to conduct a five-day training workshop with Liberian public defenders and trainers. Also in June, NACDL launched a National Forensics College in partnership with Cardozo Law School to train the next generation of forensics litigators. In April, the Association launched a new compendium on the electronic recording of custodial interrogations. In February, NACDL released Covering Criminal Justice, a three-part video series exploring how students and journalists covering criminal justice can best report on criminal justice. The series featured some of the finest journalists in the country and was distributed to journalism and communications schools across the United States. And in December, NACDL continued its effort to address racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system with a convening in Washington, D.C., which coincided with the release of a series of articles on the subject in the New York Journal of Legislation and Public Policy.
As I write this column and reflect upon what an extraordinary year it has been, I can tell you that serving as president has been a singular honor. This has been one of the most exciting years in my career as a criminal defense lawyer. I cannot say how many times I have been astounded by the unending efforts NACDL’s members and staff make to bring great justice to the American people. I hold great hopes for what the Association will be able to achieve in the coming year under its new president, Theodore Simon. Ted is one of the most energetic and dedicated lawyers I have had the privilege to work with during my tenure in NACDL’s leadership. I congratulate him and all of you for your continued dedication to the cause of criminal defense. I leave office supremely confident that NACDL will always lead the fight to secure justice for our clients and to reform of the nation’s criminal justice system.
About the Author
Jerry J. Cox is a sole practitioner based in Mount Vernon, Ky., where he has practiced criminal defense law for over 40 years. He is certified as a Criminal Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA), and he served on the NBTA Board of Examiners in 2004. He is a past president of the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a Life Member of NACDL. In 2002, the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy recognized his commitment to criminal defense by awarding him the Nelson Mandela Lifetime Achievement Award.