skip to content

Links to Helpful Websites

GENERAL RESOURCES

Capital Defense Network
www.capdefnet.org
Includes resources to help defense counsel become familiar with the essential principles involved in representing death row inmates in habeas corpus proceedings. The site is split into the Habeas Assistance Training portion, which contains helpful information for those in state-post-conviction proceedings, and the Federal Death Penalty Resource Council portion, which is geared more toward those in federal habeas proceedings. Contents include case summaries, online litigation guides, and important updates for federal capital trial and habeas practice. The website is sponsored by the Defender Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Capital Defense Weekly
capitaldefenseweekly.com
Covers case "highlights" on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and is also available in email subscription format (updates currently suspended).

National Juvenile Defender Center
www.njdc.info
NJDC provides support to public defenders, appointed counsel, law school clinical programs and non-profit law centers to ensure quality representation in urban, suburban, rural and tribal areas. NJDC offers a wide range of integrated services to juvenile defenders, including training, technical assistance, advocacy, networking, collaboration, capacity building and coordination.

Death Penalty Information Center
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
Contains a wealth of information on the death penalty, including statistics from each state and information on various topics, such as race, juveniles and innocence.

Death Penalty Representation Project
www.americanbar.org/deathpenalty
Includes information about pro bono death penalty representation and a link to the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases.

National Capital Standards Database
www.capstandards.org
Secured resource area from the Death Penalty Representation Project containing 20+ years of capital defense guidelines, standards, and training materials. Also includes indexed and searchable database of summaries of court opinions citing to the ABA Guidelines.

National Association of Federal Defenders
www.federaldefenders.org/
This website contains a summary of the various reversible error lists from around the country.

COURT SITES

U.S. Courts Home Page
www.uscourts.gov
Provides a link to all U.S. Federal Courts. Also contains a vast library.

Supreme Court Center
supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court
Provides information on Supreme Court cases, including certs granted, issues in pending cases, briefs and other materials.

Supreme Court Oral Arguments
www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts.aspx
Official transcripts of all recent oral arguments.

STATE-SPECIFIC RESOURCES

Federal Public Defender for the District of Columbia
dc.fd.org
Contains the best collection of motions and briefs for noncapital cases on the web. This site is easy to navigate and provides information on training and CLE opportunities.

Equal Justice Initiative
www.eji.org
Provides information about death penalty litigation in Alabama. Contains a detailed outline of, and ordering information on, the Alabama Capital Defense Trial Manual and the Post Conviction Manual.

Alabama Federal Defenders Office, Middle District of Alabama
www.almfd.org
The Office of the Federal Community Defender of the Middle District of Alabama staffs attorneys who are appointed to represent persons accused of federal criminal law violations who are unable to retain private counsel, including those in post-conviction proceedings. The site contains links to criminal justice resources, publications, and important news.

The California Appellate Project (CAP)
www.capsf.org/
This website contains a vast array of resource materials designed to be helpful to legal professionals handling death penalty appeals. Among the items to be found there are: an electronic brief bank, CAP publications (including RECAP, the Death Penalty Index), investigation and mitigation resources, practice guides and statistical information. CAP is a legal resource center for death row inmates challenging their convictions and sentences and is a non-profit corporation assisting private counsel appointed to represent indigent defendants in direct appeal and state habeas proceedings.

Florida Commission on Capital Cases
www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/
Provides resources for those working on a capital case in Florida. Includes attorney registry list, updated inmate legal status, post-conviction time frames and list of resource attorneys. Note: The Commission on Capital Cases was not funded in the FY 2011-2012 General Appropriations Act, and the Commission ceased operations on June 30, 2011. This site and the Commission website are being retained to provide access to historical materials.

Florida Supreme Court Briefs
www.law.fsu.edu/library/flsupct/index.html
Database of Florida Supreme Court briefs, including many from capital cases. Note: the briefs are in PDF format and must be found by docket number.

Southern Center for Human Rights
www.schr.org
Provides an introduction to Georgia's death penalty law. Lists and links to death penalty articles and reports. Also includes a listing of death penalty defense conferences and seminars.

Georgia Public Defender Standards Council
www.gpdsc.com
Includes information on death penalty cases in Georgia.

Gulf Region Advocacy Center (GRACE)
www.gracelaw.org
GRACE is a nonprofit providing quality representation to indigent persons charged with capital crimes in the state courts of Texas and Louisiana.

Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy
dpa.ky.gov
This website provides information for cases in Kentucky and contains DPA's periodical, The Advocate, the Preservation Manual, and the Kentucky Evidence Manual. Although this site is aimed at Kentucky practitioners, the applicability of the materials presented (especially the Preservation Manual) is well worth examination.

Louisiana Public Defender Board
lpdb.la.gov
Site for the Louisiana Public Defender Board. It contains a specific section for capital defense with numerous helpful links for Louisiana defenders, including guidelines, news items, and statistics.

New York State Defender Association
www.nysda.org
This website offers resources for criminal defense and death penalty litigation in the northeast. The site contains a "Hot Topics" section, which is one of the best of its kind on the web. It is also a leading source for defense of those "rounded up" since the terrorist attacks.

Texas Defender Service
www.texasdefender.org
Includes helpful resources on death penalty litigation in Texas. Links to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse (VC3)
www.vc3.org
VC3 is a Washington & Lee law school clinic that serves as a litigation support center for court-appointed defense attorneys at the pretrial and trial stages of capital cases throughout Virginia. VC3.org is an on-linecapital defense resource maintained by VC3 director and W&L clinical professor David Bruck. The website provides a variety of materials, including sample motions and memoranda, jury instructions, capital case transcript excerpts, and litigation guides on key issues in Virginia death penalty trials.

NATIONAL RESOURCES

Cornell Death Penalty Page
www.law.cornell.edu/topics/death_penalty.html
Includes general information and resources about federal habeas corpus review and capital punishment.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
www.nacdl.org
NACDL is the preeminent organization in the United States advancing the mission of the nation's criminal defense lawyers to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime, with significant coverage of issues relating to the death penalty. The site contains news, The Champion magazine, legislative alerts and other useful information.

National Legal Aid and Defenders Association
www.nlada.org/defender
This site contains materials on NLADA Indigent Defense Standards, defender trainings and conferences, legislation, technical assistance, and funding opportunities. A link to Indigent Defense takes you to the only national periodical written exclusively for the nation's indigent defense professionals.

National Law Journal
www.law.com
This website contains the electronic version of the nation's largest circulation newspaper. The online version offers email updates of the daily edition and a searchable archive of prior stories.

Jurist: Legal Education Network
www.jurist.org
This website hosts academia from around the country writing and debating about issue impacting the profession.

Equal Justice USA
ejusa.org
This website contains a collection of materials relating to moratoria, execution of innocents, and the case of Mumia Abu Jamal.

Bend the Arc (formerly Progressive Jewish Alliance (PJA))
bendthearc.us
PJA is a national membership organization dedicated to the Jewish traditions of pursuing peace, promoting equality and diversity, and ensuring social and economic justice in the United States, Israel, the Middle East, and throughout the world.

Murder Victims Family for Reconciliation
www.mvfr.org/
Murder Victims Family for Reconciliation is a national organization of family members of both homicide and state killings who oppose the death penalty, advocate for programs and policies that reduce the rate of homicide and promote crime prevention and alternatives to violence and supports programs that address the needs of victims, helping them to rebuild their lives.

The Sentencing Project
www.sentencingproject.org/
The Sentencing Project is an independent source of criminal justice policy analysis, data and program information for the public and policy makers.

The International Justice Project
www.internationaljusticeproject.org
The International Justice Project works towards the development, coordination and increased employment of international law and human rights standards as they pertain to capital punishment. The site contains information on international law and issues relating to the death penalty for juveniles, mentally retarded persons, the mentally ill, and foreign nationals. The site also contains a brief bank and general resources