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Public Defenseless

Anyone paying attention can tell you that our criminal legal system is perpetuating cruelty and harm, but the complexity of the legal world overwhelms most people simply trying to get through another day. Public Defenseless explores the rot in the justice system and what we can do about it. Join host, Hunter Parnell, as he interviews top defense attorneys and criminal justice stakeholders from across the country as they pull apart the convoluted web of our criminal justice system. Like so many of

government politics

All Episodes

01:02:17

393 | Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/09/11

Today, Hunter was joined by activist, prisoner journalist, and author of Ending Isolation, Christopher Blackwell. On this episode, Chris and Hunter discuss the book, the horrors of solitary confinement, and why the practice needs to end. Guest: Christopher Blackwell, activist, prisoner journalist, and author of Ending Isolation, and executive director of Look 2 Justice Resources: Christopher Blackwell’s website and Socials https://www.christopher-blackwell.com/

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01:02:01

392 | Can Public Defenders Become a Greater Check on...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/09/09

Today, Hunter was once again joined by Chesa Boudin and Eric Fish to discuss a law review article they recently published. This time, they are talking about Public Defenders and the Separation of Powers. While this seems like a law school paper for law school professors, the fundamental question posed by this episode is how Public Defenders can/should increase their political capacity to act as a check on the other branches of government. Guest: Chesa Boudin, Executive Director, Criminal Law

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01:10:07

391 | Debating The Problems and Promises of the...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/09/02

Today, Hunter hosted a debate between Professor John Gross and Professor Bob Boruchowitz about the Public Defender National Workload Standards. Back in the spring of this year, John penned an article about some of the methodological and pragmatic issues with the National Workload study. Meanwhile, Bob has been working in Washington for decades to bring meaningful, enforceable workload standards across the state. Today, Hunter spoke with both of them to hear each side of this debate and to try and

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01:15:07

390 | Debating the Problems and Promises of the...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/09/02

Today, Hunter hosted a debate between Professor John Gross and Professor Bob Boruchowitz about the Public Defender National Workload Standards. Back in the spring of this year, John penned an article about some of the methodological and pragmatic issues with the National Workload study. Meanwhile, Bob has been working in Washington for decades to bring meaningful, enforceable workload standards across the state. Today, Hunter spoke with both of them to hear each side of this debate and to try and

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01:05:10

389 | How Cook County Public Defenders are Preparing...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/29

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Sharone Mitchell Jr. and Sharlyn Grace of the Cook County Public Defender Office. As we have already seen in Los Angeles and D.C., President Trump is threatening to deploy the national guard to Chicago to combat “crime.” Today, Sharone and Sharlyn joined the show to discuss what is actually happening on the ground in Chicago, what the city needs to continue improving public safety, and what Trump’s threats are actually about. Guest: Sharone Mitchell Jr.,

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01:02:35

388 | How Public Defenders Can Make it Easier to Win...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/28

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Professor Eve Primus. This time, Eve joined the show to discuss her newest law review article “Burdens of Proof in Criminal Procedure.” At first glance, this might seem like a boring, technical legal topic, but the burden of proof is often the only thing that matters in a criminal trial. As Eve points out, the entire case can hinge on who has to prove what and when they have to prove it. Guest: Eve Primus, Professor of Law, University of Michigan School

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01:04:26

387 | The Junk "Science" Cops Use to Stop, Frisk, and...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/26

Today, Hunter was joined by Professor Amanda Savage to discuss her latest law review article “The Pseudoscience of Gun Hunting”. In the article, Amanda explains the cop created “Characteristics of an Armed Person” training that cops undergo to identify who may or may not have a weapon. As with many cop created “sciences,” CAP is the perfect tool for police to use if they want to stop, search, and frisk someone for any reason or no reason at all. Guest: Amanda Savage, Professor of Law, Denver

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01:11:15

386 | Why Have the Private Defense Lawyers who Take...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/21

Today, Hunter was Renae Alt-Summers and Mekka Jeffers-Nelson to discuss the payment stoppage for Criminal Justice Act Panel Attorneys. Just like state public defender systems, the federal public defender system relies on private defense counsel to take conflict cases and serve as the primary way to deliver public defender services. Yet as of the start of July, those CJA panel attorneys have had payments stopped, and those payments aren’t set to come back online until at least October. So, what will

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01:05:29

385 | How a Public Defender Fought for a Better Legal...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/19

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Grant Miller, Salt Lake City Public Defender and Representative of Utah’s 24th House District. Last time that he was on the show, Grant was running for office. Now, Grant joins to discuss how his first legislative session went. From passing a bill to reduce fines and fees to helping ensure the Overton window didn’t shift too far to tough on crime side, Grant gives us a reason to be optimistic even when we hold minimal political power. Guest: Grant Miller,

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58:37

384 | How Texas is Trying to Improve Access to Family...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/14

Today, Hunter was joined by Crystal Leff-Piñon, Director of TIDC’s family protection representation unit. On Tuesday, Hunter and Scott Ehlers discussed the funding problem and attorney shortages leading to a slow moving crisis in rural Texas. Today, Crystal joins to share how similar the issues are for family defense throughout the state of Texas. Guest: Crystal Leff-Piñon, Director, Family Protection Representation, Texas Indigent Defense Commission Resources: TIDC Website:

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01:02:55

383 | How Can Texas Solve its Shortage of Rural...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/12

Today, Hunter was joined once again the Texas Indigent Defense Commission Executive Director, Scott Ehlers. This time, Scott and Hunter explore a slow moving crisis in Texas Public Defense: an absolute lack of attorneys in rural parts of the state. As with so many states with large rural areas, attorneys are retiring faster than they can be replaced. Scott and his team at TIDC tried to get more funding from the legislature, but as it stands now, the legislature does not seem to be taking this issue

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01:03:46

382 | What Stopped North Dakota Public Defenders from...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/07

Today, Hunter was joined once again by the Executive Director of North Dakota’s Commission of Legal Counsel for the Indigent, Travis Fink. Last time, Travis joined the show to detail a bleak outlook for public defense in the state. Not enough attorneys in both the contract and full-time systems, inadequate pay, and crushing workloads left Travis with little choice. He drafted up a letter preparing to tell the courts the public defender would be taking no new cases, but before he could send it out,

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01:08:34

381 | With a Shortage of Lawyers and Too Many Cases,...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/08/05

Today, Hunter was joined once again by New Mexico’s Chief Public Defender, Ben Baur. A few years back, a workload study estimated that New Mexico had 1/3 of the public defenders it needed to meet its workload demands. At that time, the state set out on a five-year plan to address the staffing shortage. Unfortunately, the state has not stuck to the five-year plan. Now, with a shortage of attorneys in rural parts of the state, low pay for contract attorneys, and still too many cases, will the New

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01:17:31

380 | How Washington is Helping People Who Have been...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/07/31

Today, Hunter was joined by Dennis Calhoun, Tim Ray Johnson, and Amanda Ulrich to discuss how Washington is helping people who were found not guilty by reason of insanity. Guest: Tim Ray Johnson, Criminal Defense Lawyer, Washington Dennis Calhoun, Student, Washington Amanda Ulrich, Public Defender Washington Resources: WA PD https://opd.wa.gov/ NGRI https://opd.wa.gov/forensic-civil-commitment Email Amdanda and Tim amanda@stebbinsullrich.com trj@trjdefense.com Contact Hunter

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01:28:46

379 | How Washington is Trying to Recruit and Keep...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/07/29

Today, Hunter was joined by Nat Jacob, Elizabeth Mustin, and Rachel Cortez to discuss new efforts by the Washington to recruit and retain Public Defenders. Guest Nat Jacob, Recruitment and Retention Managing Attorney Western Washington, Washington Office of Public Defense Rachel Cortez, Recruitment and Retention Managing Attorney Eastern Washington, Washington Office of Public Defense Elizabeth Mustin, Supervising Attorney, Youth Criminal Defense Project, Washington Office of Public Defense

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01:07:01

378 | Why is Oklahoma Going to Execute a Man who...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/07/24

Today, Hunter was joined by federal public defender Amanda Bass Castro Alves to discuss the wrongful conviction of Tremane Wood. In 2004, Tremane was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to death in the State of Oklahoma. Just after that, his brother, who admitted to pulling the trigger and who stated Tremane was not responsible for the death, was given a life sentence just after Tremane’s trial. So how is it that a person who did not kill anyone ended up on death row? All that and more on

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01:03:08

377 | How Was a Man Convicted of Murder When he...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/07/22

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Erica Nichols Cook, the head of the Iowa State Public Defender Wrongful Conviction Unit. On today’s episode, Erica walks us through the case of Jerry Mark. In 1976, he was convicted of the murder of his brother, sister-in-law and their two children, but as you will hear, all the evidence points to the fact that Jerry Mark wasn’t even in the state when the murder happened. Guest Erica Nichols Cook, Director, Wrongful Convictions Unit, Iowa State Public

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01:06:03

376 | How a Law School Clinic is Trying to Prevent...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/07/17

Today, Hunter was joined by Professor Megan Walsh and Anthony Benz from the University of Minnesota. As we did on Tuesday, Hunter sat down with these two to highlight the work of a law school clinic. This clinic focuses on combating gun violence through both offensive and defensive litigation. Guest Megan Walsh, Director, Gun Violence Prevention Clinic, University of Minnesota Anthon Benz, Student Attorney, University of Minnesota Resources: Contact Megan

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01:06:16

375 | The Law Clinic Helping Public Defenders Fight...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/07/15

Today, Hunter was joined by Professor Megan Graham to discuss how her law an technology clinic is helping Public Defenders deal with technology issues in their client’s cases. Guest Megan Graham, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Director of Technology Law Clinic, University of Iowa College of Law Resources: Contact Megan https://law.uiowa.edu/people/megan-graham https://bsky.app/profile/megankgraham.bsky.social Contact Hunter Parnell:

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01:05:04

374 | How were Incarcerated People Impacted by the NY...

Public Defenseless ·

2025/07/10

Today, Hunter was joined by Co-Founders and Co-Executive Directors of Unchained Emily Napier-Singletary and Derek Singletary. Unchained is a non-profit organization based out of New York that seeks to “empower those currently and formerly incarcerated in the state of New York through policy development, community organizing and advocacy, research, and liberation education.” On today’s episode, Derek and Emily discuss what happened both inside and outside of New York prisons during the New York

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204 results

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