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.
Showing 1 - 15 of 17 results
The Supreme Court’s Bruen decision will have a major impact across the United States. Jurisdictions will make changes to gun regulations already on the books, and lawyers will bring legal challenges to existing gun laws. Defense attorneys Zachary Newland and Catherine Turner review and explain the new standard set forth in Bruen, and they discuss how lawyers are using the new standard to challenge the constitutionality of firearm laws.
Comments to the U.S. Sentencing Commission regarding proposed amendments to the sentencing guidelines.
Letter to the U.S. Sentencing Commission regarding proposed amendments to the sentencing guidelines.
A defendant who is assessed the gun enhancement pursuant to the Sentencing Guidelines may still receive the benefits of the safety valve. It is up to defense counsel to know the different standards of proof and offer a sufficient argument to show that both can be applicable.
FBI's Forensic Test Full of Holes, Washington Post, April 15, 2007.
NACDL lists experts referred by its members, and an expert was in your search.
A detailed PowerPoint presentation detailing firearm identification methods with exemplary cases.
Amicus curiae brief of Families Against Mandatory Minimums and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Argument: Under Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000), if a sentence would be unreasonable absent a particular fact neither found by the jury or admitted by the defendant, the sentence would violate the defendant’s Sixth Amendment jury trial right; in the instant case, whether the defendant brandished a “machinegun” during a robbery, triggering a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence, must be treated as an element of the offense.
Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Argument: Under the express statutory language of 18 U.S.C. §924, the minimum consecutive imprisonment terms specified in §924(c)(1)(A) do not apply where a court sentences the defendant to a greater minimum sentence under another federal statute.
In the Supreme Court of Mississippi; Manning v. State of Mississippi
