NACDL - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

1:00 - 2:10pm ET

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Opening & Welcome

Michael Heiskell, President, NACDL & Monica L. Reid, Senior Director of Advocacy, NACDL

Setting the Stage: 50 Years of Mass Incarceration in America – Where Do We Go From Here?

2023 marks the 50^th year since the U.S. prison population began its extraordinary surge. To date over five million people are under supervision by the criminal legal system, and nearly two million people, disproportionately Black, are currently incarcerated in our nation’s jails and prisons. This represents a 500 percent increase since 1973.

How did we get here? Many of the conditions that drove this exponential rise in incarceration persists, including the failed War on Drugs, racially biased policing, disproportionate pretrial practices and sentencing outcomes and the expanded use of lengthy sentences.

As advocates mark 50 years of mass incarceration, what is needed to meaningfully decarcerate our nation’s jails and prisons? Join us for this opening panel discussion, as we set the stage for the 22^nd Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference, answering the question, where do we go from here?

Materials

Moderator: Nicole Porter, Senior Director of Advocacy, The Sentencing Project

Panelists:

• Khalil Cumberbatch, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Council on Criminal Justice
• Premal Dharia, Executive Director, Institute to End Mass Incarceration
• Cynthia Roseberry, Acting Director, ACLU Justice Division, American Civil Liberties Union

2:30 - 3:30pm ET

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Pretextual Policing: Keeping Minor Stops from Becoming Major Harms

This panel will explore the mechanisms that incentivize police to engage in pretextual traffic stops and examine state and local efforts to stop law enforcement from enforcing minor traffic infractions.

Materials

Moderator: Jumana Musa, Director, Fourth Amendment Center, NACDL

Panelists:

• Dara Baldwin, Co-chair, Transportation Equity Caucus
• Lizzie Buchen, Consultant, Buchen Consulting
• Brad Haywood, Founder, Justice Forward Virginia

4:00 - 5:00pm ET

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How to Meaningfully Advance Pretrial and Bail Reform, while Combatting Misinformation

Despite assurances that, “[I]n our society, liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial…the carefully limited exception,” over 75 percent of those detained in local jails have not been convicted of a crime. Two-thirds of state pretrial populations are held for non-violent offenses, and the racial disparities which plague the criminal legal system are especially pronounced in pretrial decisions. With pretrial decisions having substantial, long-term case impacts, the use and abuse of pretrial detention erodes the presumption of innocence and destroys any sense of justice. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the deadly consequences of widespread pretrial incarceration, prompting a renewed call and sense of urgency for releasing individuals detained pretrial.

In New Jersey lawmakers implemented bail reforms that shifted from a primarily from a cash bail system to a risk-based system. New York adopted a historic bail reform law that eliminated cash bail for most people charged with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. And in Illinois, lawmakers abolished cash bail, making it the first state to do so. However, over the past few years New York lawmakers have continuously rolled backed its bail reform law, and the Illinois’ reform was initially put on pause but has survived with the Supreme Court upholding the law that eliminated cash bail. Join this panel to hear from advocates working to advance pretrial reform and receive tips and strategies for responding to critics and addressing concerns from court actors, legislators, and others.

Materials

Moderator: Rena Karefa-Johnson, Vice President, National Initiatives, FWD.us

Panelists:

• Brandon Buskey, Director, Criminal Law Reform Project, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
• David Gasper, CEO, The Bail Project
• Sharlyn Grace, Senior Policy Advisor, Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender

NACDL Affiliate Leader Social Networking and Recognition Event

Virtual networking event for NACDL Affiliate organizations hosted by Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube and Tim Zerillo.

1:00 - 2:15pm ET

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Presentation of Champion of State Criminal Justice Reform Award

Monica L. Reid, Senior Director of Advocacy, NACDL & Michael Iacopino, Senior Partner, Brennan Lenehan and Chair of State Legislative Affairs Committee, NACDL

Recipient: Anthony Powers

Reversing the Tide on Geofence and Keyword Warrants

Law enforcement has increasingly turned to Google to identify criminal suspects by using digital dragnets that search millions or billions of people at once. A “geofence warrant” searches for devices in a virtual perimeter, while a “keyword warrant” requires Google to reveal anyone who searched for a term or phrase. These modern-day general warrants raise deep Fourth Amendment concerns. This panel will discuss current litigation and legislative efforts to prohibit their use.

Materials

Moderator: Michael Price, Fourth Amendment Center Litigation Director, NACDL

Panelists:

• Laura Koenig, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Eastern District of Virginia
• Hayley Tsukayama, Senior Legislative Activist, Electronic Frontier Foundation

2:30 - 3:30pm ET

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Drug Decriminalization in Oregon

The United States constitutes less than 5 percent of the world’s population yet is prisons house 25 percent of the worldwide prison population. This phenomenon is due large to the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs has served, and continues to serve, as a powerful mechanism of mass incarceration and oppression in America. The drug war sought to combat the illegal drug trade in the U.S. through policies intended to discourage distribution and consumption. However, the harsh sentencing policies that followed swelled the nation’s prison population and disproportionately targeted communities of color. At every stage of the criminal justice process – from the geographical distribution of police, to stops and searches, to arrest, to pretrial detention, to sentencing, to post-conviction, to collateral consequences – communities of color, especially Black communities, disproportionately bear the brunt of the War on Drugs. In February 2021, Oregon’s drug decriminalization measure (Measure 110) took effect, making it the first state to remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of all drugs. Join this panel to hear from advocates who are working to end the drug war and advance a public health approach. Also hear how things are going on the ground in Oregon!

Materials

 Panelists:

• Morgan Godvin, Post-Graduate Fellow, Health in Justice Action Lab
• Tera Hurst, Executive Director, Health Justice Recovery Alliance
• Emily Kaltenbach, Senior Director of State Advocacy and Criminal Legal Reform, Drug Policy Alliance

4:00 - 5:00pm ET

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Effective Messaging to Advance Criminal Legal Reform

As movements to reform flaws in the criminal legal system resulted in a growing number of states passing impactful bipartisan measures, the justice reform movement also faced swift backlash, as the 2020 uptick in homicides was utilized to stoke fear around recent policy changes and to push regressive proposals that would walk back the move toward greater justice, equality and authentic safety. News coverage on crime and legal reform plays an integral role. As stated by the Center for Just Journalism: “Journalists who cover crime and the criminal legal system influence everything from public policy to our collective sense of safety.” Join this panel to hear advocates and media experts discuss effective messaging around criminal justice reform and how to create an effective narrative strategy.

Materials

Moderator: Rabiah Burks, Vice President, Communications & Team Building, National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA)

Panelists:

• Scott Hechinger, Executive Director & Founder, Zealous
• Insha Rahman, Vice President, Advocacy & Partnerships, Vera Institute of Justice
• Hannah Riley, Director of Programming, The Center for Just Journalism