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.
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NACDL is committed to enhancing the capacity of the criminal defense bar to safeguard fundamental constitutional rights.
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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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Federal defenders Stephen Sady and Elizabeth Daily offer pointers on enforcing the First Step Act time credits through administrative law and habeas corpus. They provide practitioners with practical ways to begin negotiating, then litigating when necessary, against the BOP’s failure to fully implement the First Step Act’s provisions.
The United States Sentencing Commission updated U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13, the policy statement that governs federal reduction-in-sentence motions filed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The legal hook for a reduction-in-sentence motion is identifying one or more “extraordinary and compelling” reasons that warrant relief. The authors provide tips for litigating § 3582(c)(1)(A) motions – both the extraordinary and compelling prong and the § 3553(a) prong.
For John Bailey, achieving justice involved a long journey on both straight and winding roads with many obstacles along the way. But trying as it may have been, the odyssey ended by arriving at the sweetest of destinations – freedom.
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.
Congress amended 18 U.S.C. § 3582 to permit prisoners to file their own motions for compassionate release.
The FIRST STEP Act directly impacts accused and sentenced prisoners in myriad ways. Defense attorney Todd Bussert discusses Bureau of Prisons-related aspects of the law, including changes to the time credit calculus, avenues by which prisoners can earn both earlier pre-release transfers and placement on supervised release, and avenues to petition courts for reductions in sentence for extraordinary and compelling reasons. Bussert points out that implementation of some of the Act’s provisions may be delayed.
Risk assessment – the assessment of risk of reoffending or risk of future violent behavior – is a hot topic. However, only rarely do lawyers address the questions raised by criminal justice-related risk assessment. This finding suggests that defense lawyers may not be paying enough attention to the issue. A key issue involves addressing how the risk assessment connects the dots between a specific client’s circumstances and the factors related to reoffending and violence.