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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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Amicus Brief on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for Defendant-Appellant Seth Fishman
The undersigned groups urge you to oppose the Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act of 2023 (S. 412), which would create a new federal crime carrying a one-to-five-year prison sentence for sharing intimate photos of a person without that person’s consent. We recognize that this bill is well intentioned, but we are concerned that it will sweep in and criminalize innocent conduct and worsen the trial penalty that many criminal defendants—including many people who are actually innocent—face in our justice system.
The “Freedom from Over-criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2012” (FOCUS Act) seeks to reform the Lacey Act by substituting the Lacey Act’s criminal penalties with civil penalties and removing the Act’s reliance on foreign laws as the basis for determining violations. S. 2062, introduced in February 2012 by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and H.R. 4171, introduced by Rep. Paul C. Broun (R-GA) in March 2012, are identical companion bills.
Dobbs, et al. v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, et al. 19-1392
On Jan. 6, 2015, the House of Representatives adopted a rule that requires the House Judiciary Committee to be afforded an opportunity to review any bill containing new criminalization.
Powerpoint slides by Wendy Bach and Purvaja Kavattur. Presented at the NACDL Post-Dobbs Defender Skills Summit in July 2023
Brief of amici curiae of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, et al. supporting respondent Jackson Women's Health Organization, et al.
Powerpoint slides by Emma Roth. Presented at the NACDL Post-Dobbs Defender Skills Summit in July 2023
Brief of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner.
We, the undersigned organizations, write in opposition to S. 686, the “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act,” or the “RESTRICT Act.” The RESTRICT Act aims at information and communications (ICTs) technologies like TikTok that are considered a threat to the United States.
As a criminal defense organization, we do not profess to possess expertise in policing practices insofar as those practices do not directly intersect with the criminal justice system. But many police practices do have a direct impact on the treatment of accused persons, the degree to which their cases are litigated justly, and case outcomes. Accordingly, we offer a few key insights, which we hope will find their way into the Commission’s recommendations.
20th Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference August 18-20, 2021 | Held Virtually
Hear from members of NACDL’s Women in Criminal Defense Committee as they highlight the report’s key findings and the impact of these laws on our criminal legal system.
This panel examines the continued criminalization of HIV and other health status, the undermining of the central principle that criminal intent be required for criminal liability, and efforts to reform these discriminatory laws.
The expected prosecutions as a result of the Dobbs decision are bearing down on a system already overwhelmed post-COVID. Because of the promise of arrests for those traveling interstate seeking services, defense attorneys may feel an impact even if they do not practice in an abortion-restrictive jurisdiction.
This study of the 114th Congress revisits a 2010 joint report by the Heritage Foundation and NACDL: Without Intent: How Congress Is Eroding the Criminal Intent Requirement in Federal Law. This new study found that Congress still regularly introduces bills with new criminal provisions that contain mens rea requirements that are not sufficiently protective. In fact, 42% of the bills analyzed had criminal intent requirements that were considered inadequate. [Released December 2021]