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CHAIR’S MESSAGEgg
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Stephen
Saltzburg
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American Bar Association advocacy during the 110th
Congress advanced a number of policies originally sponsored by the Criminal
Justice Section. Top Association and
Section leaders, in cooperation with the ABA
Governmental Affairs Office, brought ABA policy to the attention of all three
branches of the federal government on issues affecting the criminal justice
community. We were heard urging
changes to the federal sentencing guidelines, endeavoring to preserve the
independence of U.S. Attorneys, supporting gang violence prevention,
promoting prisoner reentry, improving juvenile justice, and supporting an
increase in indigent defense funding -- to name just a few of the important
issues that were addressed. Bruce
Nicholson of ABA Governmental Affairs has worked tirelessly on these issues
and has closely coordinated with the Section on all of them, and Jack Hanna
and the exceptional staff of the Criminal Justice Section have missed no
opportunity for the Section to be heard on the issues we care about. You might want to review the regular
report that Bruce prepares recounting the status of major legislation and
advocacy initiatives, which is available here.
Among the specific undertakings of the ABA
on criminal justice issues were the submission of nearly two dozen letters to various executive and
legislative recipients articulating ABA
policy on matters of importance to the administration of justice and the
legal profession. Our members also
made a number of appearances in support of ABA policy in federal and state
forums. For example, Barry Boss,
co-chair of the Section’s Sentencing Committee testified on behalf of the ABA
before the U.S. Sentencing Commission and successfully urged the
Commission to make retroactive its new federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses. And, Margaret Love, consulting director
of the Commission of Effective Criminal Sanctions, testified on alternative
sentencing and offender reentry before the Joint
Committee on the Judiciary of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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NEWS g
Recent Amicus Brief: ABA Asks High Court to Support Law Requiring
Citations
Legislative Update
Policy Update: Including CJS Recommendations
Going Before the HOD in Feb. 2008
Nominations for 2008- Positions (Nominations
are due by January 16, 2008.)
Two Supreme Court Decisions in
December 2007 Highlight the Advisory Nature of the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines (by David Debold)
Practice Under the Federal
Sentencing Guidelines, Fourth Edition
Weekly Criminal Justice News
Round-Up
UPCOMING EVENTS g
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Feb. 7-9, 2008
Los Angeles
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Criminal Justice Section 2008
Midyear Meeting
On Feb. 8 members can participate in CLE programs addressing among
other issues how the “Jena 6” ordeal affected the public’s perception of
the criminal justice system and what mediation and restorative justice
could have done to prevent it, and the latest tactical approaches taken by
both prosecutors and public defenders in DUI trials.
That same day, the CJS Innocence
Subcommittee is pleased to announce that the Section is cosponsoring a
symposium at Southwestern
Law School
entitled “Wrongful Convictions: Causes and
Cures.”
Following the “Jena 6” and DUI
programs, the Section will co-sponsor a joint reception celebrating the 40th
Anniversary of the ABA Council on Legal Education Opportunity and the
presentation of the Section’s inaugural Frank Carrington Victim Advocate
Award presented in honor of Frank
Carrington to the Carrington family.
On Feb. 9, the Section’s Executive Committee will meet to discuss
the long-range priorities of the Section, and the Nominating Committee will
meet to make recommendations for future Section leadership.
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Criminal Justice Section
Meetings, April 3-6
Charleston, South
Carolina
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2008 Spring Conference
Superior Direct and
Cross-Examination
April 4, Charleston, South Carolina
We have assembled the best lawyers from the ABA Criminal Justice
Section and the best in South
Carolina to demonstrate cross and direct
examination for you. Few moments provide the kinds of opportunities for
major impact on the outcome of the trial that direct and cross examination
of witnesses gives. Leading national and South Carolina prosecutors and defense
attorneys will demonstrate how to use witnesses to lay the foundation for
your case and how to dismantle the foundation attempted to be laid by
opposing counsel. Prosecutors with star power such as Barney Giese of Columbia, South Carolina
and William Shepherd of Palm Beach,
Florida will show how to use
Direct examination to elicit both direct and circumstantial evidence as
well as matters of fact and opinions. Defense lawyers with star power such
as Albert Krieger and Gedney Howe will demonstrate how to question the
witness’s ability to identify or recollect facts and to try to impeach the
witness.
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Other Events
NEW PUBLICATIONS…
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ABA Standards for Criminal Justice,
Third Edition: DNA Evidence < | |
