NACDL Litigation

Information on lawsuits NACDL has filed in pursuit of preserving constitutional rights and transparency.

ACLU, et al. v. Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice, et al.

1:24-cv-01656 (D.D.C.)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and NACDL filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking public records detailing the Department of Justice’s implementation of December 2022 memoranda establishing new policies for all federal prosecutors’ charging and sentencing practices.
Antrell Thomas et al vs. Anthony S. Evers et al

2022CV001027 (Brown County Cir.)

In response to the ongoing crisis in Wisconsin where thousands of people facing criminal charges are waiting for lawyers to be assigned to their cases, NACDL, our Wisconsin affiliate (WACDL), the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU School of Law, and the Chicago office of Winston & Strawn filed a lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in Brown County (Green Bay), one of the many counties in the state struggling to find lawyers for every eligible individual, leaving people waiting weeks, months, and in some instances, a year or more, for a lawyer.
Wilkerson, Robinson, Wolverton, NACDL, CACJ, and ACLU-NC v. Alameda County Sheriff Gregory J. Ahern

RG20062694 (Ca. Sup.)

NACDL, et al. filed a class action lawsuit seeking release of medically vulnerable individuals from Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, Calif. The lawsuit seeks to compel Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern to release all medically vulnerable people in custody at Santa Rita or in rare circumstances transfer them to home confinement.
NACDL, CACJ & Youth Justice Coalition v. CA Gov. Gavin Newsom & CA Atty General Xavier Becerra

S261827 (Cal. Sup. Ct.)

NACDL, et al., filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate Seeking the Immediate and Significant Reduction of County Jail and Juvenile Facility Populations Across the State of California. As explained in the petition, the conditions in these facilities constitute violations of the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment as well as violations of individuals’ Due Process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, in addition to violations of the California Constitution and other state and federal laws.
NACDL v. Executive Office for United States Attorneys and U.S. Department of Justice (appellate)

15-5051 (D.C. Cir.)

NACDL sued the Justice Department seeking disclosure of its Federal Criminal Discovery Blue Book. This publication reportedly covers the law, policy, and practice of prosecutors’ disclosure obligations. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision that the publication is protected work product. Included here are key pleadings filed in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' (NACDL) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking the Department of Justice's Federal Criminal Discovery Blue Book.
NACDL v. Executive Office for United States Attorneys and U.S. Department of Justice (trial)

1:14-cv-00269-CKK (D.D.C.)

NACDL sued the Justice Department seeking disclosure of its Federal Criminal Discovery Blue Book. This publication reportedly covers the law, policy, and practice of prosecutors’ disclosure obligations. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision that the publication is protected work product. Included here are key pleadings filed in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' (NACDL) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking the Department of Justice's Federal Criminal Discovery Blue Book.
Abidor v. Napolitano

10-cv-04059-ERK (E.D.N.Y.)

NACDL commenced a lawsuit with the ACLU challenging a U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy that authorizes searches of the contents of travelers’ laptop computers and other electronic storage devices at border crossings, notwithstanding the absence of probable cause, reasonable suspicion or any indicia of wrongdoing. Filed in the Eastern District of New York, the suit sought to enjoin future enforcement of the policy. NACDL was both a plaintiff and co-counsel in the case, which was dismissed in December 2013 and pending reconsideration as of April 2014.
Colorado Criminal Defense Bar v. Hickenlooper

10-cv-02930-JLK (D. Colo.)

Filed by pro bono counsel at Morrison & Foerster LLP, this lawsuit sought to invalidate Colorado Revised Statute § 16-7-301(4), which required a defendant to meet with a prosecutor before being assigned counsel. In Rothgery v. Gillespie County, 554 U.S. 191, 213 (2008), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a defendant’s right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution attaches at “a criminal defendant’s initial appearance before a judicial officer, where he learns the charge against him and his liberty is subject to restriction.”
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers v. Evanston, Illinois Police Department

1-08-2073 (Ill. App.)

Citing wrongful convictions due to mistaken eyewitness identification and the urgent need to reform traditional police eyewitness identification procedures, NACDL, in conjunction with the MacArthur Justice Center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern University School of Law, filed a civil lawsuit against the Illinois police departments who participated in a controversial study of eyewitnesses and police lineups.
Anderson v. State of Louisiana

04-05405 (La. 14th J.D)

An NACDL-supported class action filed by pro bono counsel at Baker Botts LLP and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, the suit alleged that deficiencies in the Calcasieu Parish public defense system were so extreme that defendants were being denied their right to counsel as guaranteed by the U.S. and Louisiana Constitutions. The lawsuit alleged that due to substantial under-funding, public defender clients did not have their cases properly investigated, had infrequent communication with their attorneys, and experienced extraordinary delays in the processing of their cases.

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