Renewed War on Drugs, harsher charging policies, stepped-up criminalization of immigrants — in the current climate, joining the NACDL is more important than ever. Members of NACDL help to support the only national organization working at all levels of government to ensure that the voice of the defense bar is heard.
Take a stand for a fair, rational, and humane criminal legal system
Contact members of congress, sign petitions, and more
Help us continue our fight by donating to NFCJ
Help shape the future of the association
Join the dedicated and passionate team at NACDL
Increase brand exposure while building trust and credibility
NACDL is committed to enhancing the capacity of the criminal defense bar to safeguard fundamental constitutional rights.
NACDL harnesses the unique perspectives of NACDL members to advocate for policy and practice improvements in the criminal legal system.
NACDL envisions a society where all individuals receive fair, rational, and humane treatment within the criminal legal system.
NACDL’s mission is to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal legal system, and redressing systemic racism, and ensuring that its members and others in the criminal defense bar are fully equipped to serve all accused persons at the highest level.
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SFSTs — Why We Need Them, What Are They, How to Discredit Them with National College for DUI Defense, featuring Steve Oberman, Tony Palacios, and Doug Murphy.
DRE & ARIDE - Their Purposes, Differences & Discrediting Them. With Steve Oberman, Doug Murphy, and Anthony Palicios in collaboration with NCDD. Sponsored by Smart Start.
Analyzing & Preparing Your DUI Defense - the NCDD Board of Regents analyzes & prepares DUI defense for YOUR submitted fact patterns.
NACDL supports legislation to expand opportunities for diversion from the criminal legal system.
Letter to the California Assembly Public Safety Committee in support of Senate Bill 1021, which would allow individuals convicted of certain first-time misdemeanor DUI offenses to be granted diversion.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule generally prohibits the disclosure of health and medical information without an individual’s authorization. However, the rule contains exceptions that aim to balance the right of privacy in one’s medical information with important public interests. When can medical information be disclosed to law enforcement? How does the law enforcement exception apply in DUI cases?
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act contains provisions addressing driving-related public safety issues, including multidrug impaired driving. The legislation, among other things, requires that drunk and impaired driving prevention technology become standard equipment on all new passenger motor vehicles. While many people have lauded these provisions, a plausible unintended consequence of this technology is the very real specter of broadly increased governmental surveillance.
Robert Reiff discusses the work of Dr. Marcelline Burns, one of the creators of the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests that police officers use when investigating DUI/DWI cases.
Clients charged with DUIs often take “SCRAM pleas” in which they promise, as a condition of release, not to drink alcohol and to wear the SCRAM bracelet to prove it. These individuals sometimes insist they did not drink even though the SCRAM monitor says they did. Juliana DeVries explains why there is reason to believe these clients. Based on publicly available information, it appears that water, atmospheric alcoholic compounds, and temperature can interfere with the SCRAM bracelet’s ethanol reading.
For cases with the right facts, Ambien® automatism is a legitimate defense to DUI charges. A person who drives after taking Ambien® may be driving in a state of automatism, which means the vehicle operation is an involuntary act. People should not be held liable for conduct that is not the result of a voluntary choice.
If an aviator is charged with DWI, the best way to overcome a medical deferment is to hire both an Aviation Medical Examiner and a lawyer experienced in FAA matters.
Many people accused of DUI will have their driver’s licenses suspended in administrative proceedings. What are the essential practice tips when counsel challenges the suspension of a driver’s license?
Using scaled questions is one method of jury selection questioning that allows the lawyer to learn how strongly a juror feels about a concept or defense. What are scaled questions? What kinds of scaled questions can be asked in a DUI trial?
"To competently represent a client charged with DUI you must learn the new techniques and current technologies unique to this area of criminal defense. DUI defense involves a complex combination of science and law that should not be initiated by those unwilling to treat the defense of this serious crime with the respect that it deserves."
-Stephen L. Jones, "To DUI or Not to DUI, That is the Question," The Champion (August 2006).
Find case-based tools and more on DUI here.
Before addressing each Field Sobriety Test individually, defense counsel can create doubt in the minds of jurors in a DWI case by suggesting that the tests generally are unfair and unreliable. Defense attorney Daniel Bertolino provides a sample cross-examination.
