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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 justice system.
NACDL envisions a society where all individuals receive fair, rational, and humane treatment within the criminal justice system.
NACDL’s mission is to serve as a leader, alongside diverse coalitions, in identifying and reforming flaws and inequities in the criminal justice 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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Coalition letter to President Biden regarding the absence thus far of executive actions addressing discriminatory and militarized policing in Black and Brown communities.
Letter to New Jersey legislative leadership regarding a proposed bill to require that law enforcement disciplinary records are government record and available to the public (S2656, 2020).
NACDL supports the videotaping of all law enforcement interrogations from beginning to end and calls upon Congress and state legislatures to pass legislation mandating this practice.
The Fourth Amendment has entered the digital age. New surveillance technologies and programs — from GPS tracking devices to automated license plate readers to bulk data collection — have upended traditional law enforcement practices and created new challenges for defense lawyers. This report offers an overview of this symposium and the substantive areas of concern related to new technological and legal changes that impact Fourth Amendment protections in criminal cases. [Released June 2016]
In response to a series of high-profile police killings of unarmed people of color, law enforcement agencies across the country began adopting body cameras as a solution to requests for more transparency and accountability. In order to study the impact of body cameras on the rights of the accused, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers established a Body Camera Task Force comprised of defense attorneys from across the country. [Released March 2017]
Racially biased policing takes many different forms, from elevated police presences in the neighborhoods of marginalized communities, to disproportionate street and vehicle stops and searches, to use of force, to outright expressions of racism within some police departments.
Information and reports related to recording of interrogations.
Predictive policing encompasses the surveillance technologies, tools, and methods employed to visualize crime, target “at-risk” individuals and groups, map physical locations, track digital communications, and collect data on individuals and communities.
Coalition letter from the NJ Coalition for Transparent Policing to the leadership of the New Jersey state legislature regarding proposed legislation to make law enforcement disciplinary records accessible to the public as government record (Senate Bill 2656).
This application is designed to help NACDL assess the suitability of your jurisdiction/agency to participate in our Full Disclosure Project. Decisions regarding applications will be made based upon the information provided in this application. You are welcome to submit additional supporting documents that can further assist us in assessing the capacity and infrastructure your organization.
The Full Disclosure Project aims to disrupt the culture of secrecy that systematically and pervasively shields law enforcement misconduct by changing police secrecy laws and empowering the defense community to track police misconduct.
Coalition letter to New York City Police Department Inspector General Philip Eure regarding an audit of the Criminal Group Database to eliminate incorrect, overbroad, and racist data and the consequences of being wrongly included in such a list.
Wrongful convictions stemming from false confessions and a growing field of false confession research have paved the way for greater public understanding of factors that lead to false confessions. The authors explore the underlying causes of false confessions and the importance of state-level reform.
State laws should make it clear that allowing suspects to escape immediate apprehension for almost every crime is a more reasonable alternative than killing them. The use of deadly force should be reserved for instances when suspects are objectively an imminent danger to either a police officer or the public.