NAPD 2026 We The Defenders

This session tells the inside story of how one federal defender office built and governed its own AI system—fully on-premises, never in the cloud—and what that journey revealed about the future of AI in the courts. We’ll walk through how “practice-first” experimentation (Gideon 1.0) evolved into a “policy-first” governance model (Blueprint 2.0) that now informs judiciary-wide standards for fairness, transparency, and human oversight. You’ll see how role-specific guardrails, context control, and pilots turned into enforceable ethics, and why “humans in the loop” is not just a safeguard but the foundation of judicial integrity in an AI age.

Part One focuses on promoting accuracy and integrity in sobriety testing, not discrediting officers. It walks through the phases of a DUI arrest—from observing a vehicle in motion to personal contact and pre-arrest screening—and explains the three main field sobriety tests: Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, Walk and Turn, and One Leg Stand. Each test’s purpose, common indicators of impairment, and accuracy rates are discussed, along with the importance of following standardized procedures. By the end, attendees understand how these tests build probable cause and how mistakes or deviations from NHTSA standards can affect the reliability of the results.

 Part Two takes a deeper look at the testing conducted by officers. Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) represents the next level of training, building a foundational understanding of drug-related impairment and detection. The Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) program is the final step, providing officers with advanced knowledge of the signs and symptoms of drug impairment. This session helps attorneys understand how these levels of training shape arrest decisions and why properly conducted investigations are essential. It also explains the role of the DRE evaluation and its 12-step process, along with the key legal challenges to consider when these evaluations are introduced in court.