The Story of Steven Castanedo

Steven's story is a compelling one. He was arrested in Florida for second degree murder at age 17.

His family spent tens of thousands for private attorneys who did little to nothing to help him. He was coerced to take a plea bargain that was no bargain at all.

There as no physical evidence, only the word of unreliable witnesses. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison with a 25 year minimum.

He was incarcerated as a teenager, and could reach 42 years old before he can experience freedom once again.

Steven prays and awaits a miracle from the man above.

But the NCDP doesn't wait for men above; please join our cause and help us help Steven!

Steven's full story:
https://cases.nationalcdp.org/steven-castanedo/

Claim Your National Center For Due Process Blog!

Why go to WordPress.com or Blogger?  If you're involved in due process and our judicial system, claim your own blog right on the website of the National Center For Due Process! 

There are different reasons you may want to obtain a blog on the NCDP website (for instance, your-law-firm.natonalcdp.org or an-inmate.nationalcdp.org.

There are also 2 methods on how to obtain a blog.  Both are speedy, and you can be up-and-running in just minutes. 

For details, see:
https://nationalcdp.org/get-a-blog/

Report Inustice to the National Center For Due Process!

Do you have a case involving injustice, whether it be prosecutorial or judicial misconduct, that you’d like the National Center For Due Process to look into?  Let us know! 

https://nationalcdp.org/report-injustice/

Private Prisons: Are They Really That Bad?

Private prisons house about 160,000 of America's 2.4 million prisons ... so that's about 6.7% of America's prisoners.

This means that the other 93.3% of our prisoners are housed in our government's federal and state prisons.

And yes, they really are that bad.  But state and federal-ran prisons aren't any better, and aren't much different at all.

So while many like to harp on private prisons, in this article, we demonstrate why private prisons aren't really "private" -- legally speaking -- and show you how public prisons aren't much different:
https://nationalcdp.org/private-prisons-public-prisons/

Truth-in-Sentencing: One Big Lie & a Dark, Dirty Secret

One of the dark, dirty secrets in America's judicial system is truth-in-sentencing.  Don't know what it is?  I said it was a secret! 

Truth in Sentencing statutes that have been enacted in 41 of our 50 states are decimating the economy, contributing to higher crime rates, and are basically one big fat lie.

Truth in Sentencing statutes have thousands of Americans locked up beyond their earliest release date -- and much of the time it has nothing to do with bad institutional behavior.

TIS is also costing you a lot more money than you'd believe!

Read more!
https://nationalcdp.org/truth-in-sentencing-one-big-lie/

Check out the National Center For Due Process Social Stream!

Don't feel like going to every one of the social media outlets of the National Center For Due Process?  No worries -- we got this! 

Simply go to our Social Media Stream to be updated on what we're saying in all of our social media outlets!

https://nationalcdp.org/ncdp-social-stream/

See what we're saying all around the world!

Introducing the NCDP Social Wall!

Who needs Facebook, Twitter, or Google+? 

Post on the National Center For Due Process Social Wall just like you do any other outlet -- however, on the NCDP website, you're talking to an audience you know is interested in the same things you are! 

Post messages, video, images, and more! 

https://nationalcdp.org/ncdp-social-wall/

The NCDP Legal Dictionary

Okay, even we at the National Center For Due Process can have some fun now and then.  Read the NCDP Legal Dictionary -- which includes legal terms as used in today's day and age, which vary greatly from what we learned in law school. 

https://nationalcdp.org/legal-dictionary/

Note: this is more satirical than it is informational.

The National Center For Due Process is a Nonprofit Legal Aid Organization Relying on Public Donations

The National Center For Due Process can only work with the support of the community.  The NCDP is a nonprofit legal aid organization that needs your help to accomplish our objectives.

Funds accrued are applied to the NCDP’s organizational structure and activities, administration activities, research expenses, and to fund our ongoing campaign to affect policy change.  See how you can contribute!
https://nationalcdp.org/donate/

National Center For Dur Process Mission Statement

The National Center For Due Process aims to affect policy change and to provide oversight, transparency, and accountability in the judicial branch of our government, while assisting adversely affected prisoners in their cases (including appeals) and continuing to research ways to improve our fundamentally-flawed judicial system.

The NCDP aims to affect policy change and to provide oversight, transparency, and accountability in the judicial branch of our government, while assisting adversely affected prisoners in their cases (including appeals) and continuing to research ways to improve our fundamentally-flawed judicial system. 

Read about our in-depth mission with more specifics:
https://nationalcdp.org/mission/

About the National Center For Due Process

The National Center For Due Process is a nonprofit legal aid organization dedicated to reform of our criminal justice system.

At the National Center For Due Process, we aim to influence policy change in Washington DC and throughout state capitals in an effort to restore our constitutional civil rights as well as due process, while providing prosecutors and judges and judges something they’re sorely lacking: accountability and oversight.

Read more about the NCDP:
https://nationalcdp.org/ncdp/

Interactive Death Penalty Map for all American States

In our Interactive DP Map, America stands out with good reason: we’re one of two industrialized democracies in the world (Japan) that hasn’t completely abolished premeditated state-sponsored murder. 

Click any state for more details on the NCDP interactive DP map:

https://nationalcdp.org/interactive-dp-map/

Capital Punishment is unconstitutional, and this article will explain why. In America, our 6th Amendment guarantees us the right to an impartial jury.

We also have an 8th Amendment protecting us from cruel and unusual punishment — which somehow, doesn’t include strapping a citizen to a table and murdering them.

https://nationalcdp.org/capital-punishment-unconstitutional/

Capital Punishment in America: A Geographical Breakdown

Capital punishment is alive in America -- the only nation in the western hemisphere still barbaric enough to murder its own citizens.

While we would all love to believe that America is the leader of the free world and a beacon of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we have become an angry culture of revenge.

Read more, and see which counties are the worst counties in America, sending citizens to the death chambers more than the rest.

https://nationalcdp.org/capital-punishment/

Death Penalty Facts & Alarming Graphic

Death penalty facts when comparing America to the developed world don’t paint a pretty picture. There are currently, as of the time of this writing in late 2014, 3070 inmates in 35 states awaiting their execution date.  Capital punishment is legal in 32 states at the time of this writing.

Read more, and see which counties are the worst counties in America, sending citizens to the death chambers more than the rest.

https://nationalcdp.org/death-penalty-facts/

The Media & Crime in America

It it bleeds, it leads.  Well, that's how the media's idiom goes.  The media and crime go hand-in-hand in America. The media has a vested interest in maintaining the tough-on-crime cycle of windfall profits.  Unfortunately, the media in America — especially cable news — is entirely ungoverned, and is protected through libel insurance.

https://nationalcdp.org/media-and-crime/

The media covering crime in America has no governing set of ethos; the lowest common denominator is the Society for Professional Journalists, and even their recommendations are largely ignored.

America is "Tough on Crime"

America elects politicians and judges -- the only nation of its kind. 

What these elected officials who boast about their “tough on crime” status are actually doing is making your life less safe, and depriving your children of the constitutional civil rights that America’s founding fathers clearly outlined when authoring our nation’s Constitution.

https://nationalcdp.org/tough-on-crime/

We need to end the tough-on-crime phenomenon that began in the early 1980's, forming a direct correlation with our rising incarceration rates.

Is this the best America can do?  Is this the America our forefather dreamed of?

America's 8th Amendment Disaster

Since the “tough on crime” campaign started to really reap political rewards in the early 1980’s, there has been an inverse correlation with our devolving civil rights and our rising population. 

As a result, our protection against cruel and unusual punishment as well as our right to an affordable bail have been two of the constitutional civil liberties tramped upon via the American prison lobby.

This is diametrically opposed to the ideas our forefathers had in mind when they set forth rules to protect future generations of Americans from the tyrannical justice system many American colonialists suffered from when under British rule.

https://nationalcdp.org/americas-8th-amendment-disaster/

160,000+ Americans Serving Life Sentences!

Life sentences in America are handed down nearly as frequently as traffic tickets. 

In fact, there are over 160,000 inmates in America serving life sentences -- with no hope of obtaining a parole at some point.  This number dwarfs any other nation in the world. View our interactive map on life sentences!

https://nationalcdp.org/life-sentences/

Justice and Capitalism do not mix.  Every westernized democracy in the world has figured this out except one country: America. In America, every election cycle is riddled with advertisements with politicians claiming they lock up more people than the other, and as a result, make you safer.

https://nationalcdp.org/justice-and-capitalism/

The American Prison Epidemic

America’s prison epidemic is out of control.  In recent years, prosecutors have successfully shifted the burden of proof from the State to the defendant, and our prison population since the 1980’s has exponentially soared since the advent of America’s “tough on crime” campaign.

https://nationalcdp.org/americas-prison-epidemic/

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

Burgeoning Prosecutorial Powers in America

Prosecutorial powers are burgeoning in America, where prosecutors and judges have seen their powers exponentially rising over the last few decades — especially since the early 1980’s, and the advent of the tough-on-crime fictitious campaign.

https://nationalcdp.org/prosecutorial-powers/

Prosecutorial Misconduct: An American Epidemic

Why do prosecutors and judges get a free ride if they commit perjury in a court of law? Shouldn’t they be punished more so, being an officer of the court? How have prosecutors and judges created a “legal mafia” to protect each other? 

https://nationalcdp.org/prosecutorial-misconduct/

Welcome to the National Center For Due Process!

The National Center For Due Process is a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy change within our criminal justice system -- in Washington DC and throughout state capitals nationwide. 

We feel it's wrong that America has 4.4% of the world's population yet houses an alarming 25% of the world's prisoners. 

For more information, please visit https://nationalcdp.org