Coalition letter to the House Rules Committee and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science regarding a proposed amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2021 (H.R. 7617) to reestablish the Department of Justice Office for Access to Justice as it previously operated from 2010-2018.

The Champion of Public Defense Award recognizes an individual or group for exceptional efforts in making positive changes to a local, county, state, or federal public defense system. Although the outstanding direct, individual representation of every defendant is one of NACDL's foremost goals, this award is intended to highlight efforts toward systemic advances through legislation, litigation, or other strategies.

Brief of Amicus Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Support of Petitioner.

Argument: Non-unanimous juries are fundamentally different and less deliberative than the Sixth Amendment requires. Non-unanimous juries also fundamentally skew the decision of whether to exercise the jury trial right. The pernicious racial origins of the non-unanimity rule further undermine the Sixth Amendment jury trial right.

Brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner.

Argument: Like Gideon v. Wainwright (the only case the Supreme Court has recognized as falling within Teague v. Lane’s watershed rule exception), Ramos v. Louisiana is a watershed rule and therefore, under Teague v. Lane, applies retroactivity to cases on collateral federal review.  Ramos, like Gideon, overturned a badly flawed, errant precedent to restore a bedrock Sixth Amendment right.  Ramos, like Gideon also increases the accuracy of convictions, when accuracy is properly understood to refer to the fairness of the process and the likelihood that the defendant received procedural protections guaranteed by the Constitution, rather than the likelihood that actual guilt or innocence is determined.

Courts are developing protocols for how to safely resume jury trials after the coronavirus pandemic. The defense community cannot allow expedient solutions to backlogged dockets to subvert the Constitution by sanctioning proceedings that fall short of constitutional and statutory protections.

Business as usual will be impossible as courts restart face-to-face jury trials during the coronavirus pandemic. NACDL has identified 10 fundamental principles that can minimize the constitutional burden while protecting the public and stakeholders who must come together in the courtroom.

What is the best way to resume in-person proceedings as courts reopen after closures stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic? Defendants have a right to be physically present in the courtroom. How can courts ensure a fair and constitutional process going forward?

The fact that hearings and trials can be conducted via videoconference platforms does not make these proceedings legal. Criminal trials in which some or all witnesses testify remotely are susceptible to Sixth Amendment challenges. The authors offer five factors concerning which defense counsel should ask a judge to make findings before any witness testifies via two-way videoconference.

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

Brief of Amici Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Argument: Plaintiffs allege systemic deficiencies in Idaho’s provision of public defense services and seek prospective relief. The court is addressing the proper standard to apply to plaintiffs’ claims. Plaintiffs should be required to demonstrate that Idaho’s public defense system presents a substantial risk of harm to members of the plaintiff class. The types of harm that can result from the systemic deficiencies alleged by plaintiffs include overly high bail, unnecessary or overlong pretrial detention, unwarranted guilty pleas leading to negative collateral consequences, lack of time and resources to prepare defenses, wrongful convictions, and economic and social costs to society as a whole. 

Virginia Fair Trial Coalition support agreement

NACDL's model legislation for discovery in criminal cases

The Fourth Circuit in United States v. Johnson held that defendants were entitled to an evidentiary hearing pursuant to Remmer v. United States to determine if jurors remained impartial after a juror said defendants’ associates took cellphone photos of jurors during trial.

Coalition letter to the House Judiciary Committee regarding the need for more funding for public defense services, made even more critical by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presented by: Ariel Simms, Criminal Justice Attorney Fellow, National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability (NCCJD), The Arc