Incoming NACDL President Martín Sabelli (San Francisco, CA), Debevoise & Plimpton partner Judge John Gleeson (ret.), JaneAnne Murray (Director of the NACDL Trial Penalty Clemency Project and University of Minnesota School of Law Associate Clincal Professor of Law), Mudasar Khan (NACDL Trial Penalty Clemency Project volunteer attorney), and Steven Logan (Manager of NACDL's Return to Freedom Project) give an overview of the trial penalty and provide an introduction to the Trial Penalty Clemency Project.

This page contains materials and information related to postconviction.

Innocent people are convicted of crimes and spend years in prison while the real offender remains free.  Although it is exceedingly difficult to overcome a conviction, even for an innocent individual, convictions are being overturned and individuals are being exonerated with increasing frequency.  According to the Innocence Project, over 300 individuals have been exonerated based on DNA evidence, while thousands of other individuals have been exonerated without DNA evidence.   

Panel from the 2020 Presidential Summit and Sentencing Symposium, co-hosted with the Georgetown University Law Center American Criminal Law Review

This webinar focuses on the unique ethical challenges appellate attorneys encounter in their attorney-client relationships. Topics include the nature and scope of the client’s role and rights regarding the decision to appeal and the issues to be raised in the appeal, the attorney-client relationship when an attorney is pursuing an Anders brief, responsibilities when ending appellate representation, and overall communications with the client during the appellate process.

Taking the determined set of issues as its jumping off point, this webinar provides insight on how to draft a compelling brief, which includes source citation, more on issue drafting, as well as drafting the statement of the case and the argument and making the most of oral argument.

Appellate cases can be lost before they begin when attorneys fail to follow the unique and sometimes complex procedural rules and the impact of a case decision can rise and fall on the identification and framing of the issues. This webinar focuses on understanding the arc of an appeal from case assignment to conclusion to help attorneys avoid some of the major procedural pitfalls and provides practical advice on navigating the appellate process.

Panelists: John Koufos, National Director of Reentry Initiatives, Right on Crime; Margaret Love, Attorney & Collateral Consequences Resource Center; Jason Hernandez, activist, received clemency from President Barack Obama
Moderator: Cynthia Roseberry, Wilberforce University, and Former Project Director, Clemency Project 2014

Shattering the Shackles of Collateral Consequences: Exploring Moral Principles and Economic Innovations to Restore Rights and Opportunity
NACDL’s 17th Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference and 2nd Annual Presidential Summit | August 23-25, 2018 | Atlanta, GA

The question presented is whether it is ethical for a criminal defense lawyer to participate in a plea agreement that bars collateral attacks on convictions under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 in the absence of an express exclusion for claims based on ineffective assistance of counsel.

We advocate for immediate commutation of sentences, compassionate release, and second chances for persons convicted of non-violent marijuana offenses. The continued prosecution of marijuana crimes continues to cause irreparable harm on real people and their families. Men and women languish in federal prisons across this country for conduct today that has been legalized in many states and under statues that have been rewritten to reflect the evolving landscape in the field of marijuana.

NACDL and the Foundation for Criminal Justice Applaud Clemency Project 2014; Historic Pro Bono Effort by Nation's Bar -- Washington, DC (Jan. 19, 2017) – On his last full day in office, President Obama today announced 330 grants of commutation. Of today's 330 grants, 189 were in cases supported by Clemency Project 2014.

Brief of National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers and Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice in Support of Appellant

Clemency Project 2014: A Historically Unprecedented and Wholly Independent Volunteer Effort By the Nation's Bar -- Washington, DC (January 16, 2015) – An army of volunteer lawyers are diligently working on behalf of thousands of prisoners who have requested free legal assistance in drafting and submitting clemency petitions. This unprecedented, wholly independent effort by the bar, facilitated by the organizations which make up Clemency Project 2014, seeks to achieve justice for those prisoners.

Webinar on recantation evidence and its uses for innocence claims.

With one suggestion for improvement, NACDL supports the proposed amendments to Fed.R.App.P. 35 and 40, which would consolidate and clarify the procedures governing petitions for panel or en banc rehearing, as well as petitions for initial en banc consideration.