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.
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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This training program will aid those working to defend persons accused of homicide in drug-related overdose deaths. Each section of the program focuses on a different aspect of these cases. CLE is not available for this program.
Mr. Jack Donson, Executive Director of the Federal Prison Education and Reform Alliance, along with moderator, Patricia Cresta-Savage, Chair of the Corrections Committee, discuss the recent updates to the "How to Navigate the Prison System Guide." Mr. Donson discusses navigating the BOP from pre-trial to sentencing classification and post-conviction. He reviews the updated Guide to include the links to documents, references, policies and procedures for incarcerated individuals, practitioners, and their families.
Prison Reform: Learning from AMEND’s Research and Reform Approaches. Presented by David Cloud, AMEND at UCSF, San Francisco, CA and Jerry Buting, moderator, Buting, Williams & Stilling, S.C., Brookfield, WI
With election day around the corner, Nicole Porter of the Sentencing Project discusses the movement to guarantee ballot access for people in jails and prisons and ensure newly eligible individuals can participate in the franchise.
“The Constitution doesn’t stop at the jail door, shouldn’t stop at the prison door.” Nicole Porter of the Sentencing Project discusses the challenges and opportunities of the movement to end felony disenfranchisement.
Hear Marlon Chamberlain explain how permanent punishments create a maze of barriers for returning citizens, and how the Fully Free Campaign fights for change.
Ahead of election season, Nicole Porter of the Sentencing Project discusses strategies to restore and expand ballot access to formerly and currently incarcerated individuals in different political environments across country.
“The reality is that people with felony conviction histories are targeted.” Hear Nicole Porter of the Sentencing Project discuss the weaponization of Election Integrity Units against formerly incarcerated individuals.
The Resource Center Webinar & Video Library showcases many of the free webinars and information-packed training videos produced by NACDL on a wide variety of topics. This is only a small part of the training videos, resources manuals, and other products across all criminal defense practice areas that NACDL offers – visit the NACDL Store to find even more material to assist defense lawyers.
NACDL and The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) are proud to launch a series of on-demand training modules. This virtual course is designed to equip attorneys and court professionals with the tools they need to better assist emerging adults (ages 18-25) in the justice system.
22nd Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference August 16-17, 2023 | Held Virtually
As movements to reform flaws in the criminal legal system resulted in a growing number of states passing impactful bipartisan measures, the justice reform movement also faced swift backlash, as the 2020 uptick in homicides was utilized to stoke fear around recent policy changes and to push regressive proposals that would walk back the move toward greater justice, equality and authentic safety.
The United States constitutes less than 5 percent of the world’s population yet is prisons house 25 percent of the worldwide prison population. This phenomenon is due large to the War on Drugs.
Law enforcement has increasingly turned to Google to identify criminal suspects by using digital dragnets that search millions or billions of people at once.
Despite assurances that, “[I]n our society, liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial…the carefully limited exception,” over 75 percent of those detained in local jails have not been convicted of a crime.
Explore the mechanisms that incentivize police to engage in pretextual traffic stops and examine state and local efforts to stop law enforcement from enforcing minor traffic infractions.