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Washington, DC (Jan. 23, 2012) – The Supreme Court today decided one of the most important liberty and privacy cases in decades, ruling unanimously that government's installation and use of a GPS tracking device on a defendant's vehicle constitutes a search that presumptively requires a warrant under the Fourth Amendment. The Justice Department had argued that law enforcement has the authority, unsupervised by any court, to install and use GPS technology to monitor and store the movements, 24/7, of whomever it targets, anywhere, anytime, without a warrant. The entire Court disagreed.
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Washington, DC (Jan. 23, 2012) – The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers engaged qualified death-penalty counsel to provide representation for alleged “high-value” detainees facing military proceedings at Guantanamo, and promised them the necessary resources to do so. We did this during a time when the Military Commission Act did not provide for such resources. Like their uniformed co-counsel, the lawyers who were engaged received the necessary security clearance from the government and are all highly-respected professionals with the best reputations. We have always known that they discharged their duty to provide zealous representation in a completely ethical manner, and we welcome the close to this investigation.
On November 18, 2011, NACDL member and contributing amicus brief author Susan Walsh presented “GPS Cases: Battling 21st Century Surveillance” foreshadowing the SCOTUS decision handed down in US v. Jones yesterday afternoon. This newly released video surveys the state of the law the week after SCOTUS heard oral argument in this watershed Fourth Amendment case. In it, Walsh analyzes the "beeper cases;" the two earlier Supreme Court tracking cases decided in the 1980's, and the evolution and mechanics of the current GPS technology. Find out more about this timely presentation at:
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has launched its official mobile app the NACDL Edge. With this app, "Liberty's Last Champion"™ keeps you on the leading edge of criminal defense news of interest and continuing legal education (CLE) opportunities. NACDL members can also search our Member-to-Member Directory, read the latest issue of The Champion, and access our Experts Database.
NACDL issued a groundbreaking new report on restoring and reforming the grand jury system-- Evaluating Grand Jury Reform in Two States: The Case for Reform. This research reflects an in-depth study of grand jury reform in two states – New York and Colorado. In conducting this study, researchers Erin Crites, Jon Gould and Colleen Shepard of the Center for Justice, Law & Society at George Mason University studied the experiences of prosecutors, defense lawyers and retired judges. Four key reform recommendations emerge from the research: (i) defense representation in the grand jury room, (ii) production of witness transcripts for the defense, (iii) advance notice for witnesses to appear, and (iv) the presentation of exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.
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Read about ineffective assistance of counsel proceedings, drug jargon testimony, eyewitness accuracy, post-conviction claims, gait analysis in DWI defense, and more.
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NACDL Elections Announcement
In 2012, NACDL will elect its officers and thirteen directors. In addition, the Board of Directors will fill two vacancies on February 19, 2012.
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The FCJ supports education, research, and litigation designed to attain the goal of a more humane criminal justice system.
NACDL Elections Announcement