The Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice is a statewide not-for-profit membership organization of Criminal Defense Lawyers, law students and associated professionals dedicated to protecting the rights of the accused in the courts and in the legislature, promoting excellence in the practice of criminal law through education, training and mutual assistance, and fostering public awareness of citizens’ rights, the criminal justice system and the role of the defense lawyer.

AACJ was formed in 1986 when a group of 40 experienced criminal defense lawyers from around the State of Arizona gathered together to discuss the disregard the courts and the legislature seemed to have for those accused of crime and the lawyers representing them. Out of that meeting grew an organization of nearly 500 members, united in purpose, whose collective voice is now heard and often heeded by the courts and by the legislature.

To protect and insure by rule of law those individual rights guaranteed to all people, rich and poor alike, by the Arizona and Federal Constitutions, and to resist all efforts made to curtail such rights;

To improve the professional status of all lawyers and to encourage cooperation between lawyers engaged in the furtherance of our objectives through publications, education, and mutual assistance; and

To engage in all activities on a local, state and national level that will advance the purposes for which this organization is formed in order to promote justice and the common good of the citizens of the United States.

Our members are the first line of defense in the fight to preserve the Constitutional rights of the accused and to see that justice is fairly administered.