Coalition letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding the risks of contracting COVID-19 for those living and working in carceral facilities, and the release options available to reduce that risk through compassionate release, home confinement, and other CARES Act-authorized release programs (H.R.748, 2020).

Defense lawyers and their clients will face challenges as courts begin to reopen after the coronavirus pandemic.

(And Why That Day Is Not Yet Here)

Now that millions of Americans have been fully vaccinated, can capital defense teams restart their investigations? What are the benchmarks for when capital trial teams can and should resume in-person visitation with clients, in-person expert visits, and field investigation with in-person witness interviews?

NACDL engaged in multiple urgent campaigns to strategically decarcerate jails and prisons in Virginia in order to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on correctional facilities. Viral outbreaks in tight congregate living spaces like jails and prisons can be catastrophic for those living and working inside facilities and those in the surrounding communities. 

Coalition letter to Department of Justice leadership regarding the need to reevaluate a January 2021 memo from the Office of Legal Counsel that outlined a plan to return to federal prison people who had been released to home confinement under CARES Act (H.R. 748, 2020) provisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and proposing solutions to assured logistical issues and unfairness should the memo be heeded as written and currently interpreted.

Coalition letter to Governor Greg Abbott, of Texas, regarding his executive order (GA-13) refusing to allow release of inmates from state detention facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although businesses and individuals were sharing information and data with third-party vendors long before the COVID-19 outbreak, use of remote work tools is sure to endure long after the outbreak passes, making privacy concerns even more important.

Courts are developing protocols for how to safely resume jury trials after the coronavirus pandemic. The defense community cannot allow expedient solutions to backlogged dockets to subvert the Constitution by sanctioning proceedings that fall short of constitutional and statutory protections.

Business as usual will be impossible as courts restart face-to-face jury trials during the coronavirus pandemic. NACDL has identified 10 fundamental principles that can minimize the constitutional burden while protecting the public and stakeholders who must come together in the courtroom.

What is the best way to resume in-person proceedings as courts reopen after closures stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic? Defendants have a right to be physically present in the courtroom. How can courts ensure a fair and constitutional process going forward?

The fact that hearings and trials can be conducted via videoconference platforms does not make these proceedings legal. Criminal trials in which some or all witnesses testify remotely are susceptible to Sixth Amendment challenges. The authors offer five factors concerning which defense counsel should ask a judge to make findings before any witness testifies via two-way videoconference.

Courts around the United States have increasingly recognized that the coronavirus is an extraordinary and compelling reason warranting release of inmates. Several courts have heeded the call from legal and medical experts to release vulnerable and old inmates from inherently unsafe facilities.

Successful Presentation of Compassionate Release Actions in Light of COVID-19, Including for the Foreign-Born Client with an Immigration Detainer

Representation of detained clients who are at high risk for serious health consequences if they contract COVID-19 involves a progression of actions. The authors provide an overview of how to seek compassionate release from both prison wardens and dis­trict courts. This discussion includes strategies for nav­igating an ICE detainer and other immigration law issues when clients are not United States citizens.

Coalition letter to Senate Judiciary leadership regarding pending legislation to properly apply sentencing law and further implement the FIRST STEP Act of 2018 and work toward eliminating disparities in an effort to protect vulnerable incarcerated people and promote relief opportunities.

Not many people could have imagined that the U.S. Capitol would come under assault. No one thought 500,000 people would die from the coronavirus. Yet there is real hope.