NACDL is advocating for the passage of legislation to establish a Public Attorney Student Loan Repayment Program for attorneys employed by the State of Delaware.

Issues of racial disparity can be found in every aspect of our nation's criminal system, from stop to sentencing. Public defense attorneys have an important role to play in challenging bias and disparity within the courtroom, within their offices, and within themselves. NACDL is committed to empowering defenders to address the ways in which race impacts our court system, our clients, our communities, and the defenders who serve them. 

As a result of generous grant funding, NACDL is able to offer scholarship assistance to public defense attorneys to attend training programs.

The undersigned organizations are deeply concerned about the devastating impact of sequestration on the federal indigent defense system. Our federal criminal justice system cannot be sustained unless all components – prosecution, judiciary and defense – receive adequate and stable funding. … To avert the crisis, Congress must restore funding to the Defenders Services account.

This discussion examines the roles of race, power, and engagement in the attorney-client relationship.

Recording and resources for Defenders Becoming DAs: Unpacking the Tension in Our Community.

NACDL opposes any further cuts to Federal Defender offices.

NACDL calls for the creation of an agency to oversee federal public defense that is wholly independent of the judiciary.

NACDL changes the name of its Champion of Indigent Defense Award to Champion of Public Defense Award, effective immediately.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers deems that where warranted by the jurisdictional population needs and caseload, a proper public defense delivery system should comprise institutional offices of full-time attorney staff as well as meaningful participation of private attorneys with equal access to training and resources necessary to provide effective criminal defense.

Defend the Confidentiality of Financial Affidavits Required for Representation Under the Criminal Justice Act

Criminal Justice Act Form 23 (financial affidavit) is a confidential document. Some judges have concluded that CJA Form 23 should be a public document. Federal public defender Stephen Sady writes that the defense bar should reject any diminishment of the privacy protections in Rule 49.1.

Writen testimony of Bonnie Hoffman on behalf of NACDL in support of HB 380, The Public Attorney Student Loan Repayment Program.

As the criminal legal system explores ways to resume court proceedings, stakeholders must balance public health concerns with efforts to uphold core constitutional rights. Moderated by Professor Andrea Roth (UC Berkeley Law), panelists Sherry Boston (District Attorney, DeKalb County, GA), Martín Sabelli (Law Offices of Martín Sabelli, San Francisco, CA) and Circuit Court Judge Annie O’Connell (Louisville, KY) discuss the legal and practical definitions of what it means to confront a witness, hold a public trial, and ensure an accused receives the effective assistance of counsel.

The right to counsel, guaranteed by the 6^th Amendment, promises every person, regardless of their charges or resources, has a skilled, zealous advocate by their side when they stand accused of a crime. As Gideon and other cases recognized, defendants' procedural and substantive rights cannot be protected unless every person has an attorney with the resources, skills, and independence to advocate for them. NACDL works to help reform inadequate public defense systems through training and technical assistance, public education, advocacy, and litigation.

In the wake of the severe cuts to the provision of indigent defense services during sequestration in 2013, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) created a Federal Indigent Defense Task Force to examine the federal indigent defense system. The mission included an assessment of the level of independence afforded to the Office of Defender Services and consideration of whether reforms are necessary to ensure adherence to the ABA’s Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System. [Released September 2015]