This Second Chance Month, help someone clear their record. Volunteer at @nacdl.org's free expungement clinic on May 7 from 4 - 7 p.m. DM me to sign-up.

We’re heading to Morehouse School of Medicine on May 22-23 for a first-of-its-kind training with @nacdl.org. We're bringing defense attorneys and clinicians together to navigate the rise in criminalization of pregnancy outcomes and protect patients in Georgia. RSVP: tinyurl.com/NACDLGATraining

1/3 🏛️ NACDL mourns the loss of James R. Willis (1933-2026), a true titan of the criminal defense bar and the association's first Black president (1974-75). His career was a masterclass in courage and dedication to the Constitution.

New Mexico's entire CJA panel told Chief Judge Gonzales they're refusing to take cases until they are fully funded. That means everyone: defense attorneys, experts, investigators, social workers, and paralegals The CJA panel is equivalent to contract public defenders in State systems 👀 @nacdl.org

Jury denies federal prosecutor's charge of assault with a deli weapon ⚖️ www.courthousenews.com/jury-finds-d...

Speaker Johnson defends fed agents' targeting of clergy & peaceful protesters. Contrary to the videotape, he accuses demonstrators of assaulting ICE officers -- some of whom were standing on a rooftop as they fired projectiles at the face of a clergy member. courthousenews.com/johnson-doub...

The latest episode of my podcast Collateral Damage is now live. It looks at the beautiful life and outrageous death of Peter McWilliams. A quick 🧵. theintercept.com/2025/10/29/c...

I should note: by my count, this makes at least four clergy members *that I know of* who have been shot with pepper balls or rubber bullets fired by ICE/DHS agents in recent weeks — two Presbyterians, two Methodists and a UCCer.

They are firing pepper balls into the faces of clergy, again www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...

Due to push from the White House to get ICE agents certified ASAP, the training Center in Georgia was shortened from 13 weeks to just 6 weeks and are allowed to take open book tests. #Pinks #ProudBlue #StrongerTogether www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...

A minor note, but the local police chief and sheriff put out a statement saying DHS's press release on this raid was “completely false and a serious misrepresentation of the facts.” Another bald-faced lie to pile on top of the other ones I wrote about today.

New Mexico federal courts begin putting cases on hold because of the federal shutdown 🚨 This order shows CJA contract defense attys & experts are not getting paid - preventing them from providing Constitutionally required legal representation 👀 @nacdl.org @abqjournal.bsky.social @sourcenm.com

NEW POD 🎧: The Trump admin has executed 21 people it claims were “narcoterrorists.” It's a dark turn in U.S. drug war policy. It’s also in line with the U.S. legacy of killing innocent people chalking it up to “collateral damage,” says @radleybalko.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

A man gets a blowjob from a trans woman and his friends make fun of him so he goes to the police to claim she lied about being a woman. She was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to nearly 2 years in prison because of a man's shame. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Nation’s Defense Bar Condemns Apparent Politicization of Justice in James Indictment www.nacdl.org/newsrelease/...

Post 1/5 Nation's Defense Bar Condemns Apparent Politicization of Justice in the Letitia James Indictment. NACDL "unequivocally condemns the federal indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James," calling it an "untenable breach of institutional independence."

Surreal moment for America. Needless to say, if the normal police ever pulled something like this — pulling every single person out of an apartment building and handcuffing them to run warrant checks — they would be sued into oblivion. Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.

Highly recommend this @nacdl.org 3-part webinar series & resources, which provide insight and recommendations on how to make improvements in competency to stand trial systems www.nacdl.org/Content/Comp...

Post 1/10 ⚖️🧵 The nation's defense bar, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (@nacdl.org), slams the 'Trumped-up' indictment of former FBI Director James Comey as politically motivated retribution.

Ms. Magazine has a timely article on anti-abortion violence coming out in the print magazine laterthis month. It appears in four parts online: msmagazine.com/2025/09/16/a... msmagazine.com/2025/09/17/g... msmagazine.com/2025/09/18/r... msmagazine.com/2025/09/19/a...

Abbe Lowell interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carol D. Leonnig at NACDL's 2025 White Collar Seminar at the Marriott Georgetown Washington in DC on September 19, 2025. #NACDLWCDC

Former US Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer moderates a panel on clemency, compassionate release, and pardons featuring Ava Benny-Morrison, Cynthia Roseberry, and JaneAnne Murray at NACDL's 2025 White Collar Seminar in DC. #NACDLWCDC

Michelle Merola of New York moderates a panel with Zachary Myers of Indiana and Giselle Pomerleau of New Jersey on the ethics of using artificial intelligence in the legal profession at NACDL's 2025 White Collar Seminar in DC on September 18, 2025. #NACDLWCDC

Noted attorneys Norm Eisen, Nina Moreno, and David Gerger at NACDL's 2025 White Collar Seminar in DC on September 18, 2025, speaking on the changing role of attorneys and related challenges: proffers, retribution, funding, and more. #NACDLWCDC

Not just cowards, but fools.

In a country where the federal government goes after private actors who get targeted by an impulsive, unpredictable bully, who wants a lawyer who lacks the strength to hold their ground? Who looks to a knee bender to stick up for them?

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) addresses the 2025 White Collar Seminar on public corruption and the erosion of trust in both parties, Republicans & Democrats. "Democracy depends on a basic understanding that we entrust officials with power in exchange for their service for the public good." #NACDLWCDC

Abbe Lowell: Your view of the impact of attacks by the president and his administration on lawyers? Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: Firms who rolled over are taking a beating, with clients leaving the firm. 'If you're my law firm, and you just rolled over for the government, what does that mean for me?'

Jenny Kramer moderates a panel on Trial Skills: Cross-Examination of Government Cooperators and Challenging Government Summaries, featuring Jonathan Cogan, Cathy Fleming, and Marci LaBranche at NACDL's 2025 White Collar Seminar in DC on September 18, 2025. #NACDLWCDC

At NACDL's 2025 White Collar Seminar, Sara Kropf of DC moderates a panel on lessons from recent trials, featuring Todd Pugh of Chicago, Sarah Schwietz of DC, Teny Geragos of NYC, and Alex Wolens of Dallas. Topics included how to deselect jurors & how to manage high-profile clients. #NACDLWCDC

Thanks to @law360.bsky.social for covering the release of a new report on federal restitution I wrote with @nacdl.org highlighting the many ways in which restitution does not serve its intended goals, instead replicating other systemic issues in the crim legal system. www.nacdl.org/Document/Emp...

Andrew Birrell, President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (@nacdl.org), kicks off the 2025 White Collar Seminar at the Marriott Washington Georgetown on September 18, 2025. #NACDLWCDC www.nacdl.org/Event/2025-W...

Our sincere apologies to Georgene Smith Goodin for an earlier post that misquoted her piece for the Los Angeles Times. We have deleted the post. Please read the full story here: A criminal conviction doesn’t make an immigrant ‘the worst of the worst’ - LA Times www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

The two dismissed murder charges required the prosecution to establish that Mangione committed "an act of terrorism," which the NY judge concluded the prosecution had failed to do. (Mangione still faces a NY second-degree murder charge and a federal prosecution.) www.nycourts.gov/legacypdfs/p...

🧵 Thread: New Report by National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (@nacdl.org) Reveals How Federal Restitution Law Fails Both Defendants & Victims www.nacdl.org/newsrelease/...

When someone is having a mental health crisis, please do not call the police. 1 in 4 people killed by police are, or are perceived to be, experiencing a mental health crisis. A person with unmet mental health needs is 16 times more likely to be killed by the police. Cops don’t keep us safe.

One day after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on racial profiling, federal agents swarmed a car in Van Nuys. Four masked agents with guns drawn yanked people out, slammed them to the ground, and pointed a weapon at a pregnant woman. There is no justification for this. None.

The White House Press Secretary, the official spokesperson for the Trump administration, told reporters in an official briefing that the president wants to invade "every Democrat-run city" with troops. Any media still pretending that this is about "crime" is making a conscious choice to lie to you.

They were soon handcuffed, stripped of their belongings and shuffled to the back of the building. Orozco Forero said she showed an ICE officer a letter from Juan David’s doctors approving a biopsy; the officer tore it apart, she said. “This no longer works,” the officer told her.

🧵 In an op-ed by @nacdl.org President Andrew Birrell & Executive Director Lisa Wayne, the authors describe a stark reality: "The government ran out of money to pay for justice." They explain that the funding crisis is not due to waste or fraud but is a "conscious decision by Congress."

HRDAG and our coalition, including @latimes.com ‬ @nacdl.org , @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social @ucirvinelaw.bsky.social, are shining a light on police use of force and misconduct cases through a massive new searchable database. hrdag.org/2025/08/14/m...

Save the date to join our friends at @nacdl.org for their annual criminal justice network conference Oct. 9-10:

SCOTUS amicus filings are a hot topic for academics, interest groups, and politicians. This Substack post breaks down when amici aligned with the federal govt's positions over the past 3 years. legalytics.substack.com/p/friends-of...

ICE attacked US citizen Andrea Velez, slamming her to the ground No probable cause, no warrant and-while they claim no racial profiling-it seems clear why they did it Then they arrested her to cover it up Throwing her in a cell without even a glass of water Unsurprisingly she's not the only one

They're just saying that because it's true.

🧵 The nation's criminal defense bar association, NACDL, calls the federalization of DC police and deployment of the DC National Guard "authoritarian security theater," condemning the maneuvers as a "pretextual photo op." @nacdl.org

🎯🧵"According to The Sentencing Project, over 4 million Americans have been disenfranchised due to a felony conviction... Having such a large group of Americans disenfranchised weakens our democracy by limiting voter participation. This is not democracy. It’s exclusion."

🧵 Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act, we're still fighting for the ballot. ⚖️ In their op-ed, attorneys Ramon de la Cabada of Miami & Seth Chazin of Albany, CA, co-chairs of @nacdl.org's Criminalization of Voting Rights Committee, argue that modern tactics are disenfranchising millions.

Police Records Access Project clean.calmatters.org “Search California public records about law enforcement violence and misconduct. Results are organized into cases attributed to the agency providing the records. Information about a case can change as agencies submit new or updated records.”

🧵 A new public database, the Police Records Access Project, now makes 1.5 million pages of public records on police use of force and misconduct in California searchable for the first time. The project was led by @berkeleyjournalism.bsky.social, @ucbids.bsky.social, and Stanford's Big Local News.