Please be advised that registration for all Training Division Events is limited to persons who provide services pursuant to the Federal Criminal Justice Act (CJA). For more information please read our Training Events Registration Disclaimer.
If you have any questions about registering, please emailus.
14
Fundamentals of Federal Criminal Defense Week 9 - Workshop, Applications of Drug Guideline §2D1.1 and Criminal History Guidelines §§4A1.1-4A1.2 (repeats on April 21, 2021)
Although a rigid application of the Sentencing Guidelines is no longer mandatory under Supreme Court precedent, correctly calculating your client’s guideline range is one of the most important steps in obtaining the best possible sentence for your client. In this session of Fundamentals, we will break into small groups led by skilled facilitators. Using problems from real cases, we will practice applying the main drug offense guideline, §2D1.1, and several criminal history guidelines, §§4A1.1 – 4A1.2.
Enrollment for this workshop is limited to 30 participants each week. You may only register for this workshop on April 14, 2021 or on April 21, 2021 – not both dates. However, if upon registering you are waitlisted for the one week, you may try to register for the other week.
Facilitators
Akin Adepoju, Attorney Advisor, Defender Services Office Training Division, Washington, DC
Kasha Castillo, Supervisory Attorney/Training Director, Federal Defenders Office of San Diego, Inc., San Diego, CA
Craig Crawford, Attorney Advisor, Defender Services Office Training Division, Washington, DC
Walter Goncalves, Assistant Federal Public Defender, District of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Tracy Hayes, Assistant Federal Defender, District of Connecticut, New Haven, CT
Christian Lassiter, Assistant Federal Public Defender, District of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Jeff Lazarus, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Ohio, Cleveland, OH
Bunmi Lomax, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida, Miami, FL
Lisa Lunt, Attorney Advisor, Defender Services Office Training Division, Washington, DC
Nicole Lybrand, Assistant Federal Defender, Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC
Richard McWilliams, Assistant Federal Defender, District of Nebraska, Omaha, NE
Joan Politeo, Attorney Advisor, Defender Services Office Training Division, Washington, DC
Fredilyn Sison, Assistant Federal Defender, Training Coordinator & Director, Western District of North Carolina, Asheville, NC
Start time is 3:00 p.m. EDT (12:00 p.m. PDT)
21
Fundamentals of Federal Criminal Defense Week 10 - Workshop, Applications of Drug Guideline §2D1.1 and Criminal History Guidelines §§4A1.1-4A1.2 (repeat from April 14, 2021)
Although a rigid application of the Sentencing Guidelines is no longer mandatory under Supreme Court precedent, correctly calculating your client’s guideline range is one of the most important steps in obtaining the best possible sentence for your client. In this session of Fundamentals, we will break into small groups led by skilled facilitators. Using problems from real cases, we will practice applying the main drug offense guideline, §2D1.1, and several criminal history guidelines, §§4A1.1 – 4A1.2.
Enrollment for this workshop is limited to 30 participants each week. You may only register for this workshop on April 14, 2021 or on April 21, 2021 – not both dates. However, if upon registering you are waitlisted for the one week, you may try to register for the other week.
Facilitators
Akin Adepoju, Attorney Advisor, Defender Services Office Training Division, Washington, DC
Kasha Castillo, Supervisory Attorney/Training Director, Federal Defenders Office of San Diego, Inc., San Diego, CA
Craig Crawford, Attorney Advisor, Defender Services Office Training Division, Washington, DC
Walter Goncalves, Assistant Federal Public Defender, District of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Tracy Hayes, Assistant Federal Defender, District of Connecticut, New Haven, CT
Christian Lassiter, Assistant Federal Public Defender, District of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Jeff Lazarus, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Ohio, Cleveland, OH
Bunmi Lomax, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida, Miami, FL
Lisa Lunt, Attorney Advisor, Defender Services Office Training Division, Washington, DC
Nicole Lybrand, Assistant Federal Defender, Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC
Richard McWilliams, Assistant Federal Defender, District of Nebraska, Omaha, NE
Joan Politeo, Attorney Advisor, Defender Services Office Training Division, Washington, DC
Fredilyn Sison, Assistant Federal Defender, Training Coordinator & Director, Western District of North Carolina, Asheville, NC
Start time is 3:00 p.m. EDT (12:00 p.m. PDT)
28
Fundamentals of Federal Criminal Defense Week 11 - The Categorical Approach: A Primer
“I love the categorical approach!” – said no federal practitioner (or court), ever. The categorical approach has been a thorn in our sides since it was created by the Supreme Court in Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575 (1990). From the Armed Career Criminal Act, to Section 924(c); from the career offender guideline, to child pornography sentencing enhancements, the categorical approach cannot be avoided. But while it may be here to stay, this analytical framework has proven to be one of our greatest tools to achieve substantive relief for our clients. In this interactive presentation, attendees will work through each step of the categorical and modified categorical approach analyses. The presentation will place particular emphasis on post-Mathis issues of statutory divisibility and the use of Shepard-approved documents. Attendees will leave this session with a greater comfort in employing the categorical approach, will be able to identify common missteps and opportunities for advocacy, and will perhaps even leave with some fondness for the framework so many have grown to hate.
Presenter
Kara Hartzler is an appellate attorney at the Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. Prior to joining the Federal Defenders, she served as the Legal Director and Criminal Immigration Consultant at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, where she specialized in the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. She has authored numerous books, articles, and resources for defense attorneys, including Surviving Padilla: A Defender’s Guide to Advising Noncitizens on the Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions. Kara also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona College of Law and testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Immigration on the detention and deportation of citizens and other due process violations in the immigration system. She is the recipient of the 2018 E. Stanley Conant Award, the 2017 Outstanding Assistant Federal Defender award, the 2013 David Carliner Public Interest Award, the 2013 Randy Tunac Courage in Immigration Award, and the 2010 Robert J. Hooker Award for service to the defender community.
Start time is 3:30 p.m. EDT (12:30 p.m. EDT)
30
Defense Strategies to Challenge Personality Disorder Diagnoses
Has your client been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder or Antisocial Personality Disorder? Has a scale of criminogenic risk factors been used to categorize them as high risk? Has your team raised challenges to these characterizations which negatively impact each and every stage of your client’s case? At times, mental health practice, including that of forensic specialists, makes these determinations without taking into account interpersonal or structural traumas. These experiences, which may have occurred either in childhood or adulthood - and often both in those with criminal justice involvement - can play a central role in thoughts, feelings or behaviors that may be framed as stigmatizing personality disorders or criminogenic risk factors. Dr. Vinson will discuss the factors involved in this erasure of context of discounting of trauma, including the inequities at play in the mental health field. This session will discuss strategies that defense teams can use to reframe a client’s mental health defense and mitigation story.
Start time is 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (10:00 a.m. PST).
Presenter
Dr. Sarah Vinson is a physician who specializes in adult, child & adolescent, and forensic psychiatry. She is the founder of the Lorio Psych Group, an Atlanta, GA based mental health practice providing expert care and consultation. She has consulted on cases in eight different states. Additionally, she has testified and been admitted as an expert in state, federal, criminal and family courts. She has been a speaker at multiple local and two national law conferences. Dr. Vinson graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida A & M University. After graduating from medical school at the University of Florida with Research Honors and as an Inductee in the Chapman Humanism Honors Society, she completed her general psychiatry training at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. While there, she also received specialized training in trauma through the Victims of Violence Program. She then returned to the South to complete fellowships in both child & adolescent and forensic psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine. In addition to providing mental health care services such as psychotherapy, consultation and psychopharmacology through her private practice, Dr. Vinson is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Morehouse School of Medicine. Just two years after joining the faculty she was honored as Psychiatry and Faculty of the Year in 2015. In 2018, she was selected as the Outstanding Young Alumni for the University of Florida College of Medicine and was a finalist for the Atlanta Business Chronicle Healthcare Hero Award. She is also Adjunct Faculty at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Vinson has been elected and/or appointed to national and statewide office by her professional peers. She is the immediate past President of the Georgia Council on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is the current Secretary of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association Board. Additionally, she serves on the Communications Council of the American Psychiatric Association and is the Southern Regional Rep. for the American Association of Community Psychiatrists. She has been a speaker at regional and national conferences including the Southern Regional Juvenile Defender Conference, The National Bar Association – Young Lawyer Division Conference and Retreat, the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting. Dr. Vinson was recently appointed to Georgia’s State Advisory Group through the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) by Governor Brian P. Kemp.
5
Fundamentals of Federal Criminal Defense Week 12 - From Presentence to Release: Avoiding BOP Pitfalls So Your Client Doesn’t Serve More Time Than Necessary
This session will provide practical tips if your client faces federal imprisonment. It will include factors to consider for your client to receive the earliest feasible release date.
Presenters
Liz Daily is an Assistant Federal Public Defender and the Appellate Chief in the District of Oregon. She has worked on numerous district court and appellate court cases involving challenges to Bureau of Prisons policies and procedures. Before joining the Federal Public Defender in 2014, Liz worked as an appellate defender in Oregon and a trial-level public defender in Brooklyn, NY. She also clerked for the Immigration Courts in Seattle and Portland. Liz is a 2006 graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School.
Stephen R. Sady is the Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon where he represents clients at the trial level, in habeas corpus proceedings, and on appeal. He graduated from Antioch College in 1973 and from Lewis and Clark Law School in 1977. After three years representing migrant farm workers with Evergreen Legal Services in Sunnyside, Washington, he moved to Portland where he has been defending charges involving the full array of federal crimes since 1981. He has taught constitutional criminal procedure as an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Law School and, in 1990, lectured on United States criminal law in Colombia through a Fulbright grant. His extensive litigation involving Bureau of Prisons matters included argument in the Supreme Court regarding good time credit calculations. He writes and teaches on subjects including federal sentencing, pretrial motions, appellate advocacy, representation of Guantánamo prisoners, and post-sentence challenges to the use of prior convictions to enhance sentences.
Start time is 3:30 p.m. EDT (12:30 p.m. PDT)
6 - 14
The Law & Technology Series: Electronic Courtroom Presentation (ECP) Workshop
The Law & Technology Series: Electronic Courtroom Presentation (ECP) Workshop provides CJA panel attorneys and federal defender organization staff with the legal, strategic, and technological considerations involved with presenting information in federal courtrooms during trials and hearings electronically. This four-session program uses a combination of plenary presentations and small group, hands-on instruction. In the smaller breakout groups, attendees will practice direct and cross-examination, opening statements, and closing arguments, using Trial Director360, Adobe Reader and PowerPoint software which are well suited for electronically presenting information in the courtroom.
The online adaptation of this workshop consists of virtual plenary presentations and breakout group sessions. Please note that to acquire the maximum benefit from the format of this program, participants must commit to attend all segments of this workshop, i.e., viewing all online plenary presentations, and participating in all virtual small group sessions.
To best participate at this program, all attendees are required to supply their own laptop computer and strongly encouraged to utilize their own case materials (hearing/trial, small/large). In order to be considered for admission, all applicants MUST complete and return a short skill set survey before their registration submission is finalized. NOTE: the presentation software programs used in this workshop are designed to work on Windows operating systems (as opposed to Mac). If accepted, you use a laptop running Windows, or a Mac laptop running a virtualized copy of Windows.
This course is scheduled to take place online, May 6-7 and 13-14, 2021. The workshop begins daily at 1:00 p.m., EDT and ends at 5:30 p.m., EDT. A pre-program technical preparation session will be held on Thursday, April 29th from 3:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m., EDT.
12
Fundamentals of Federal Criminal Defense Week 13 - The Nuts and Bolts of Federal Appellate Practice
This session, led by attorneys from both the federal defender’s office and the Criminal Justice Act panel, focuses on how to deal with a federal criminal appeal from start to finish. The session will cover everything from ordering transcripts, communicating with your client, identifying issues, outlining and drafting the briefs, and preparing for oral argument, and navigating post-decision litigation. Although the session is meant mainly to explain the process of handling a federal appeal, the session will also cover important substantive points to address common concerns that arise in appeals and tips on how to avoid typical mistakes. This is an ideal session for any practitioner new to federal appeals and for any experienced practitioner looking for a refresher on the topic.
Presenters
Adeel Bashir is an Assistant Federal Defender, Appellate Division, for the Federal Defender’s Office, Tampa Division. While working at the Federal Defender’s Office, Adeel has litigated a wide range of appeals involving federal statutory and constitutional interpretation, and the federal sentencing guidelines. Among his notable representations include before the U.S. Supreme Court in Yates v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 1074 (2015), and Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191 (2019).
Susan Lin is a partner with the firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin in Philadelphia. She is a criminal defense and civil rights trial attorney who has won numerous jury trials in both state and federal court. She is also experienced in litigating federal appeals, section 2255 motions, and section 2254 petitions. Ms. Lin is proficient in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. She is on the Board of APABA-PA, on the Legal Committee of the Philadelphia chapter of the ACLU, and a former co-chair of the Criminal Justice Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Ms. Lin teaches trial advocacy at Temple Law School and at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. In November 2018, Ms. Lin was appointed as the Third Circuit representative to the Practitioner’s Advisory Group of the United States Sentencing Commission. Ms. Lin is a 2004 graduate of Yale Law School and a 2000 graduate of Swarthmore College, where she was awarded high honors by external examiners. After law school, Ms. Lin clerked for the Honorable Anita B. Brody of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She then worked as an Assistant Defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia and as an Assistant Federal Defender in the trial and appellate units of the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Start time is 3:30 p.m. EDT (12:30 p.m. PDT)
13 - 14
Virtual Non-Capital Habeas Conference
This virtual program will cover the broad spectrum of issues specific to habeas corpus litigation on behalf of clients with non-capital cases. Sessions will feature both national speakers and seasoned habeas attorneys addressing beginner topics, such as an overview of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), timeliness and relation back, as well as more advanced subjects relevant to all habeas practitioners, such as exhaustion and procedural default, habeas corpus case law update, how to litigate ineffective assistance of counsel claims, and 2241 petitions during the pandemic and beyond. Check out the agenda and faculty bios for more details.
This virtual conference may be eligible for CLE credit, where authorized, in all states that grant CLE for Training Division webinars.
21 - 24
Virtual Non-Capital Sentencing Mitigation Skills Workshop
The Non-Capital Sentencing Mitigation Skills Workshop will take place virtually this year from Monday, June 21 through Thursday, June 24, 2021. This program will be open to Federal Defender staff and non-capital mitigation social workers, sentencing advocates, attorneys and other professionals working under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA).
Using a storytelling approach, this workshop presents a hands-on method on the development of non-capital mitigation and its integration into persuasive sentencing advocacy. Through plenary and small group sessions, participants will further their understanding on non-capital mitigation evidence and the skills necessary to effectively interview for mitigation; investigate, collect and analyze records; and write reports and/or sentencing memoranda.
In the small group sessions, participants will use their own pending federal cases to develop themes and theories, practice interviewing, storytelling, and persuasive writing techniques. Please note that due to the workshop format of this program, participation in all plenary and workshop sessions is mandatory.