The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) is an American criminal defense organization. Their stated mission is to "Ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime. Foster the integrity, independence and expertise of the criminal defense profession. Promote the proper and fair administration of criminal justice."
Members include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, active U.S. military defense counsel, law professors, judges, and defense counsel in international criminal tribunals, including the ICTY.
The NACDL, headquartered in Washington, D.C., was founded in 1958, has nearly 9,000 direct members and 90 state, local, and international affiliate criminal defense lawyer organizations with a total of about 40,000 members.
The organization has worked to build coalitions of legal organizations in order to provide a forum for important legal issues. Groups such as the American Bar Association, American Civil Liberties Union, the Constitution Project, Federalist Society, Heritage Foundation, and the Washington Legal Foundation have been involved with these projects.
NACDL will occasionally submit briefs in support of petitioners where the outcome will have a bearing upon the organization's membership.
The Champion magazine is the official journal of NACDL and offers timely, informative articles written for and by criminal defense lawyers, featuring the latest developments in search and seizure laws, DUI/DWI, grand jury proceedings, habeas corpus, the exclusionary rule, death penalty, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), federal sentencing guidelines, forfeiture, white-collar crime, and more.
In 2012, NACDL launched The Criminal Docket podcast. Hosted by Ivan J. Dominguez, it features a rundown of criminal justice news stories and interviews with "leaders in the legal practice, public policy, journalism, academia, and others whose lives intersect with the criminal justice system."
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
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