TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 12, 2024

The American Bar Association (ABA) has launched two new task forces aimed at ensuring independence in the defense and prosecution of criminal cases. The Task Force for Public Defense Independence has been created in conjunction with the ABA Criminal Justice Section and Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, as well as the National Association for Public Defense. See the full list of task force and advisory board members. The ABA also has created the Task Force for Prosecutorial Independence. Members of this group include Vanderbilt University Law School Criminal Justice Program Director Christopher Slobogin. The task force will be assisted by an advisory board composed of national leaders, including former U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, now dean of the Belmont University College of Law, and former Tennessee and federal judge Bernice B. Donald. See the full list of advisory board members. The groups are tasked with preserving and strengthening defense and prosecutorial independence, respectively, and enhancing public understanding of how that independence is critical to the integrity of the criminal justice system.