Crushing workloads. High Turnover Rates. Low Pay. This is not the first time these topics have been brought up on the show, but today, Hunter spoke with two Maryland Public Defenders, Edie Fortuna and Jose Teneza, to discuss how those factors drove the Public Defenders to unionize. Guests: Edie Fortuna, Assistant Public Defender, Maryland Jose Teneza, Assistant Public Defender, Maryland Resources: Prepare Parole Maryland https://prepare-parole.org/ Maryland Public Defender https://www.opd.state....
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 145
Today, Hunter spoke with two New York Criminal Defense Attorneys, Richard Willstatter and Stan Germán, to discuss the crisis at Rikers Island. For more than a decade, there has been a class action lawsuit against the city because of the inhumane conditions in the jails. Sadly, the calls for closure, reform, or receivership have continuously fallen on deaf ears. As a result, the death toll in Riker’s is reaching record highs. While there may be good news coming in the near term as people with pow...
Aug 04, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 144
Today, Hunter is joined by Annie Morgan, a Criminal Defense Appeals Attorney with the Guantanamo Bay Military Commission Defense Organization, to continue to the story of Guantanamo Bay where John Baker left off. Once John had the defenders responsible for the al-Nashiri case move off, Annie Morgan and a new team of defenders tried to pick up the pieces. On today’s episode, we dive deeper in the war on terror, the legacy of the attack on the USS Cole, and what the never ending torture of al-Nash...
Aug 03, 2023•59 min•Ep. 143
Today, Hunter kicks off this week’s theme of Guantanamo Bay coverage by speaking with BGen (Ret) John Baker. When John Baker took over as the lead defense counsel for the Military Commission Defense Organization at Guantanamo Bay, he could not imagine the abuse of power that he would go up against. From FBI informants being planted on the defense team, to classified surveillance of the conversations between defense counsel and client, and the brutal, nearly relentless torture of the detainees, J...
Aug 01, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 142
With every passing day, a new technology becomes available for police, prosecutors and the state to further side step the Fourth Amendment. On today’s show, Hunter sat down with Dhruv Mehrotra, staff writer for Wired Magazine, to discuss the latest horrifying surveillance tech coming to a jurisdiction near you. Covenant Eyes started out as a way for couples and churches to “help” people fight they perceived to be an addiction to porn, but from the very beginning the obvious potential for abuse w...
Jul 28, 2023•48 min•Ep. 141
Continuing this weeks coverage of the family policing system, Hunter was joined by Annick Lenoir-Peek, a North Carolina Deputy Parent Defender. Just like Tuesday’s episode with Josh, Annick walks us through the hypocrisy inherent to the family policing system, but Annick also demonstrates a practical way for attorneys at any level to push back. By zealously bringing cases through the appellate system, Annick hopes she can continue to secure major victories for her clients in North Carolina and a...
Jul 27, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 140
Today’s episode kicks off these weeks focus on the family welfare system aka the family policing system. Hunter sat down with Josh Michtom, a senior assistant public defender in Juvenile representation. Despite the title, Josh primarily represents parents as the state attempts to take their children away. As with so much of our criminal legal system, the contours of the family policing system in Connecticut cannot be understood without first understanding the many racial, class, and gender based...
Jul 25, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 139
Today, Hunter spoke with Deepak Budwani, the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of the Santa Barbara Public Defender Office to discuss how he was able to grow the office 80% in just five years. Long time listeners of the show will know the emphasis on data collection and data analysis, and Deepak is the model for why those things are a must for public defense. In just under 90 days, Deepak helped open a new PD office in Idaho, and by taking the mindset from his time in the public sector,...
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 138
Today, Hunter spoke with Civil Rights Corps’ Attorney Peter Santina to discuss their efforts in uncovering and challenging prosecutorial misconduct. From Alleghany County to San Francisco County, Peter and his team are those leading the charge in revealing the negligence, maleficence, and misconduct of prosecutors around the country. This episode, however, does offer a reminder that all of their actions are enabled by judges, politicians, and legal ethics bodies that sit by and do nothing to hol...
Jul 18, 2023•56 min•Ep. 137
On previous episodes, we have talked about the importance of data collection and collaboration with outside organizations to turn that data into meaningful talking points for policy change. On today’s show, Hunter was joined by three amazing data scientists from SMU’s Deason Center, Dr. Andrew Davies, Dr. Victoria Smiegocki, and Shelby Sirivore, to discuss some of their interesting data analysis on Public Defense in Texas. From appointment rates to the impacts of having a institutional public de...
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 136
On today’s show, Hunter sat down with Cameron Blazer, the Circuit Public Defender in Charleston, South Carolina, to discuss the past, present, and future of Public Defense in the state. From the start of the show, Hunter has long wanted to discuss with more detail the South Carolina practice of non-attorneys serving as judges, but there is so much more to this episode than that. In an unusual turn of events, South Carolina has actually started to increase the funding for Public Defense, and in t...
Jul 11, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 135
It’s no secret that the Public Defenseless Podcast firmly stands in the “abolish cash bail” camp. On today’s episode, Hunter is joined by criminal defense attorney, Katie Yens, to demonstrate yet another reason why the practice must cease to exist. Despite, perhaps, good intentions of judges and prosecutors, the bond laws in Colorado allow for the bail bond industry to enrich themselves off the backs of those that can least afford it. Today’s conversation is all about this obscure, but deeply in...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 134
A little over a year ago, Hunter spoke with Rocky Ramirez about how a simple bit of no-code programming was able to cut down appointment times from nearly a week to less than half a day. Today, Hunter invited Rocky back on the show to discuss the steps he’s taken over the past year in Bexar County to find tech solutions for the many issues with Public Defense. While the Managed Assigned Counsel system he operates in is unique, the theme of this episode applies equally to all practitioners of pub...
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 132
Today, Hunter spoke with Randy Fiedler and Stacy Newman about the best ways to handle a challenging client. Whether it is due to mental illness, mistrust, or some other external factor, every public defender has at one point in time dealt with a client they would consider challenging. The question is then, what are the skills and best practices to foster the trusting relationship that is necessary to combat the challenges any client may present. Guests: Randy Fiedler, Public Defender, Nevada Sta...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 133
Today, Hunter spoke with Patrick Crowley, Michael Naughton and Jonathan Sacks to talk through the attorney shortage crisis in rural America and what we can do to reverse the trend. While today’s episode focuses a lot on what is happening in rural Michigan, make no mistake, this is a problem facing nearly every state in the country. As rural, small town America has declined over the past decades, it has become harder and harder to entice young public defenders, laden with outrageous student debt,...
Jun 27, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 131
Today, Hunter spoke with Chris "Champ" Napier. When Champ was only four years old when he witnessed his father's murder. By the time he was thirteen, Napier had lived in seven different homes in seven different ghettos. Biologically and socially, he was raised in a pool of piranhas, barbarians, and sharks. At eighteen, Napier was convicted of killing a man and was sent to prison. This memoir narrates Napier's story as he navigates a childhood of poverty in Prichard, Alabama; serves more than a d...
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 130
Today, Hunter spoke with Latosha Watts and Taneal Behrens to highlight the important role that paralegals and social workers play in a Public Defender Office. To date, we have touched a lot on the need for Public Defender Offices to incorporate more social workers, but we have not had the opportunity to talk about the important role paralegals provide an office. With more than 2 decades of experience between them in the role of paralegal, Latosha and Taneal provided excellent insight on the path...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 129
Today, Hunter spoke with two law professors, Kay Levine and Russell Gold, to discuss their law review article calling for an increase in the public advocacy of public defenders. As a natural extension of the main goals of the show, Hunter loved exploring the potential political power public defenders could wield if they were more vocal. Interestingly as well, both Kay and Russell offered important juxtapositions between public defenders, prosecutors, and corporate attorneys and the way each enga...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 128
Today, Hunter spoke with Law Professor Corinna Lain to discuss her career of research around the death penalty and lethal injection. While it may seem strange to hyper focus on lethal injection, there is something to be said about understanding how and why lethal injection became the defacto method for state sanctioned murder. When lethal injection was offered to the American people, it was designed to do one simple thing: hide the reality of state sponsored murder. So long as people could look ...
Jun 13, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 127
Last year, Hunter spoke with Oregon Public Defender Chris O’Connor to discuss the public defender crisis in Oregon, and today, Hunter once again returns to Oregon to see what has changed. Joining Hunter to discuss the issue is Eve Costello, a contract PD in Klamath Falls, and Lee Wachocki, a PD in Multnomah County. Each of these attorneys bring with them an insight into the many ways that Public Defense is failing in Oregon from the urban center of Portland to the rural areas of Klamath Falls. W...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 126
On previous episodes, Hunter spoke with Chris Fabricant and Daniel Medwed to discuss various aspects of the innocence movement. With Chris, they discussed the type of junk science that contributes to wrongful convictions. With Daniel, the discussed the unnecessary legal processes and hurdles that stand in the way of getting people out of prison once they are there. Today, Hunter sat down with another lawyer, author, and leader in the innocence movement, Justin Brooks, to discuss the many other t...
Jun 06, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Today, we return to once again to the state of Alabama to speak with Stacey Fuller and Kathleen Henderson. If you will recall, Stacey joined Hunter in his conversation with Leah Nelson to discuss the fines and fees that keep Alabamans from accessing a meaningful second chance. At the end of that episode, Stacey mentioned the Felony ID card the state required her always have on her. That conversation plays directly into this one as we examine the other onerous conditions the state of Alabama plac...
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 124
On last week’s show, Hunter spoke with Babatunde Aremu and demonstrated the ways in which a Public Defender Office could be unionized without causing strife between leadership and line public defenders. Unfortunately today’s episode demonstrates the worst possible scenario for a unionization effort. Hunter sat down with Cat Vining and Morgan King, line public defenders in the Louisville Metro Public Defender Office, to discuss why they unionized and the incredible efforts that leadership took to...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 123
On today’s bonus show, Hunter provides updates on the plans for the show and what he learned from his internship at the Aurora Municipal Public Defender Office. Contact Hunter Parnell: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com Subscribe to the Patreon www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast Donate on Pay Pal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=FC6UYEFLAMBTE Donate on Stripe https://donate.stripe.com/cN26pR5IbaF...
May 26, 2023•45 min•Ep. 122
Today, Hunter spoke with Jill Weinberg, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Tufts University, to discuss the difficulties and strategies of discussing BDSM and other alternative sexual practices in the court room. For many, 50 Shades of Grey is the only exposure to alternative sexual practices so how should lawyers prepare juries, judges, and even themselves for when their case revolves around one of these topics? From the complexities of consent in BDSM relationships to navigating polyamorous r...
May 25, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 121
When most in the Public Defender world think about the Bronx Defenders, they think of an office at the forefront of imagining a new path forward for Public Defense. Despite this, the Bronx Defenders sat as outlier amongst the New York City Public Defender Offices as one of the last who were not unionized. Today, Hunter spoke with Babatunde Aremu, President of the new Bronx Defenders Union, to discuss the interesting history of the office’s relationship with unions, his work as a civil public def...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 120
Today, Hunter sat down with Mary Ann Scali (Executive Director, Gault Center) and HyeJi (Senior Youth Defense Counsel, Gault Center), to discuss the legacy of the Supreme Court Case in re Gault and how it impacts youth representation today. Much like the episode with Justine Olderman and Wes Caines on the legacy of Gideon , today’s episode is a reflection on America’s history of neglecting the rights of children, what in re Gault meant for youth access to counsel, and how the court maybe did not...
May 18, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 119
Today, Hunter was joined once again by Jane Fox (Legal Aid Society New York) and Kyle Morris (Nashville Public Defender Office) to discuss all things student debt forgiveness. Last time they were on the show, Jane and Kyle walked Hunter through the complicated landscape of Public Service Loan Forgiveness, President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, and several other topics of interest. Since that interview, student debt forgiveness has become a even more pressing issue of conversation as th...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 118
Today, Hunter spoke with Elbert Aull, a Public Defender from King County Washington and chairman of the Public Defender Union’s Political Action Committee to discuss the vital role the union played in bringing attention to the horrid conditions of jails in King County. As with many of our unionization episodes, this episode highlights the type of political and media engagement that are not normally available to Public Defenders, whether they be non-unionized or contract. Most importantly, Elbert...
May 11, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 117
Across the country, a movement of so called progressive prosecutors has become a focal point of political commentary around the criminal legal system. Today, Hunter spoke with three Chief Public Defenders, Mano Raju, Keisha Hudson, and Ricardo Garcia to discuss their observations and perspectives dealing with these progressive prosecutors. For each of the guests and Hunter, there is a universal agreement that this movement is directionally a massive improvement over old school tough on crime pro...
May 09, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 116
