Racially biased policing takes many different forms, from elevated police presences in the neighborhoods of marginalized communities, to disproportionate street and vehicle stops and searches, to use of force, to outright expressions of racism within some police departments.

"Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color in the United States than the War on Drugs."

Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow (2010)

This page provides links to NACDL's State Criminal Justice Network's monthly newsletter. The newsletter features a snapshot of NACDL's state criminal justice priorities as well as recent internal and external criminal justice reports, information on upcoming events, webinars, current state legislative reform efforts, legislative tracking, action alerts and more!

The attorney-client privilege is fundamental to fairness and balance in our justice system and essential to corporate compliance regimes. Without reliable privilege protections, executives and other employees will be discouraged from asking difficult questions or seeking guidance regarding the most sensitive situations. Available on this page are a variety of letters, testimony and statements on the decline of the Attorney-Client Privilege and Work-Product Doctrine.  

NACDL past president Gerald Lefcourt's testimony to the ABA Task Force on Attorney-Client Privilege regarding the effects to individuals during corporate investigations when any privilege is waived.

Comments submitted to the U.S. Sentencing Commission by NACDL's informal Coalition on the Privilege Waiver Amendment to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines regarding priorities in the current (2006) amendment cycle.

Statement of the Coalition to Preserve the Attorney-Client Privilege to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the attorney-client privilege following the McNulty Memorandum and the consideration of Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2007 (S. 186, H.R. 3013).

Comments to the U.S. Sentencing Commission from the Coalition to Preserve Attorney-Client Privilege regarding proposed amendments to the sentencing guidelines.

Comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service regarding proposed changes to SNAP benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD).

Statement to members of the U.S. Senate regarding amendments addressing privacy concerns in the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act of 2020 (H.R. 6172).

Coalition letter to the House Judiciary Committee regarding the need for more funding for public defense services, made even more critical by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coalition letter to Congressional leadership regarding supporting the needs of the incarcerated community in the next anticipated federal response package to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coalition letter to California Assemblymember Ed Chau regarding disparities and discrimination, abuse, accuracy, information sharing, and other issues in the proposed bill AB 2261 on facial recognition technologies.

Memorandum of Amici Curiae the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont.

Argument: The COVID-19 pandemic is of unprecedented national and global significance, necessitating a drastic local response. The rate of infection in the Vermont DOC is striking in comparison both to the rate of infection in Vermont as a whole, and even compared to the highest rate of infection for any state in the country. The Department of Corrections is demonstrably ill-equipped to adequately respond to the pandemic, and the Court must intervene to protect the constitutional rights of those incarcerated. The Court should join with judges from other jurisdictions across the country, who have reviewed inmate motions and petitions similar to those that are currently before this Court, and who have taken steps to reduce incarceration by releasing inmates on bail in light of this unprecedented pandemic and the conditions of confinement issues it brings to light.

Coalition letters to the Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and House of Delegates Judiciary Committee regarding proposed legislation (SB 921, HB 1213) to eliminate restrictions on jury eligibility for those with criminal convictions.