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Public Defenseless

von Hunter Parnell

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Anyone paying attention can tell you that our criminal legal system perpetuates cruelty and harm, but the complexity of the legal world overwhelms most people just trying to get through another day.

Public Defenseless explores the rot in the system and what we can do about it. Host and public defender Hunter Parnell talks with defense attorneys, advocates, scholars and journalists from across the country as they pull apart the system's convoluted web.

Views are the host's and guests' own, not their employers'. Not legal advice.

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  1. 531 | What Does the Los Angeles County Public Defender Union Think of Their New Workload Study? w/Karl Fenske

    On this episode, Hunter is joined by Karl Fenske, a long time Los Angeles County Public Defender and lead steward for Local 148. On this episode, Hunter and Karl discuss the union's take on the newest workload study of the Los Angeles Publi

  2. 530 | What Will it Take to Abolish the Death Penalty in California w/Diane Lozano

    On this episode, Hunter speaks once again with Diane Lozano, the former Chief Public Defender for the State of Wyoming and current Executive Director of Full Picture Justice. In her new role, Diane is focused on helping defenders prepare fo

  3. 529 | How Does the Leadership of the Los Angeles County Public Defender Plan to Use Their New Workload Study? w/Ricardo Garcia and Traci Blackburn

    On this episode, Hunter is joined once again by Ricardo García and for the first time, Traci Blackburn. On September 10th, 2026, a new workload study of the Los Angeles Public Defender was published by RAND. Ricardo and Traci joined the sho

  4. 528 | Will Utah's Tough-on-Crime Policies Force Salt Lake's Public Defenders to Stop Taking New Cases? w/Richard Mauro.

    On this episode, Hunter welcomes back Richard Mauro, executive director of the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association. Richard explains how his office built Project Rio, a program that connects people experiencing homelessness with services i

  5. 527 | Why it is so Important for Public Defenders to Expand the Right to Counsel to Family Defense w/Kelly Driscoll

    On this episode, Hunter speaks with Kelly Driscoll. As the Bureau Chief for the Family Defense Unit of the Montana Public Defender, Kelly is responsible for overseeing the defense of parents and kids in the family legal system. She joins th

  6. Bonus: Vote No on Proposition 132, the Colorado Fentanyl Measure From a Conservative Dark Money Group, with Kyle Giddings

    On this episode, Hunter is joined once again by Kyle Giddings, the Deputy Director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition and the Campaign Chair for Vote no on 132. These two sat down to discuss the Colorado Ballot Initiative, Pr

  7. 526 | How Public Defenders can use New Second Amendment Supreme Court Case to Win Self-Defense Claims w/Jacob Charles

    On this episode, Hunter was joined once again by Professor Jacob Charles. Last time Jacob was on the show, he and Hunter discussed the groundbreaking Second Amendment cases of Bruen and Rahimi. This time, Jacob sat down to examine the two n

  8. 525 | Will Police Soon be Deploying Armed Autonomous Drones to a Neighborhood Near You? w/Matthew Guariglia

    On this episode, Hunter is joined once again by Matthew Guariglia. At his work at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Matthew has become one of the leading voices sounding the alarms about the proliferation of mass surveillance technology.

  9. 524 | How Police and Their Unions Became One of the Most Powerful Forces in American Politics w/Stuart Schrader

    On this episode, Hunter is joined by Professor Stuart Schrader to discuss his book Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves. In his book, Stuart walks readers through the long history of how police departments around

  10. 523 | How the Number One Tool for Mass Deportations Might be Unconstitutional w/Eric Fish

    On this episode, Hunter speaks once again with Professor Eric Fish about a law review article he published about our immigration system. Since it was implemented in 1996, expedited removal has become the number one tool for deportations in

  11. 522 | After Nearly Two Decades as an Immigration Judge, Why Did She Decide to Leave Under the Second Trump Administration? w/Judge Mimi Tsankov

    On this episode, Hunter speaks with Judge Mimi Tsankov, former president of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ). Over nearly two decades on the bench, she served under five administrations and led the association that spea

  12. 521 | How the Media is Missing What is Really Causing Alaska's Legal System to Fail w/Amanda Harber and David Case

    In this episode, Hunter speaks with two criminal defense lawyers and former Public Defenders from the state of Alaska, Amanda Harber and David Case. For the entire 21st Century, the Alaska Legal System has been in a crisis. Too few lawyers.

  13. 520 | Can Prisons be Reformed? What History Tells Us About the Failed Attempts w/C.J. Ciaramella

    On this episode, Hunter is joined by C.J. Ciaramella of Reason. Recently, C.J. authored an article for Reason that provides an overview of different eras of prison policy and failed reform. In their discussion, Hunter and C.J. explore these

  14. 519 | How the Maryland Defender Union is Organizing for Better Working Conditions, Pay, and Workloads w/Rachel Kiefer, Alexis Rossetti, and Kalia Woods

    On this episode, Hunter speaks with three members of the Maryland Defender Union, Rachel Kierfer, Alexis Rossetti, and Kalia Woods. They join to explain the recent victory the union secured to enforce their current contract and how the unio

  15. 518 | Did the Supreme Court Finally Ensure the Fourth Amendment Protects Our Data? Part 2 w/Andrew Ferguson

    On this episode, Hunter speaks once again by Professor Andrew Ferguson to discuss the Fourth Amendment and the right to privacy. Previously, Hunter spoke with Jumana Musa of the Fourth Amendment Center to discuss the recent Supreme Court ca

  16. 517 | Did the Supreme Court Finally Ensure the Fourth Amendment Protects Our Data? Part 1 w/Jumana Musa

    On this episode, Hunter speaks once again Jumana Musa, Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer's Fourth Amendment Center. Hunter and Jumana discuss the recent landmark case of Chatrie vs United States. In that case,

  17. 516 | Will a New Commission Finally Get California to Fund Public Defense? w/Chesa Boudin

    On this episode, Hunter speaks once again with Chesa Boudin. This time, the two discussed a new commission in California tasked with studying the best path forward for a state wide solution for Public Defense. Guest: Chesa Boudin, Executive

  18. 515 | How Public Defense is Failing in Rural California w/Rio Scharf and Josh Schwartz

    On this episode, Hunter speaks with Rio Scharf and Josh Schwartz to discuss a report detailing the incredible failing of public defense in rural California. Guest: Rio Scharf, Staff Attorney, UC Berkeley Law's Criminal Law and Justice Cente

  19. 514 | How the Prison System fails to Offer Second Chances w/Jesse Crosson

    In this episode, Hunter speaks with Jesse Crosson about his book The Best Part of Prison: The Power of Second Chances and Reclaiming Life Out of Darkness. Jesse spent nearly 20 years incarcerated for a robbery and non-fatal shooting. Now, h

  20. 513 | How to Teach Kids to Think like a Public Defender w/Emily Galvin Almanza

    In this episode, Hunter speaks once again with Emily Galvin Almanza about a new book she is publishing. While her last book sought to teach adults about the failings of our criminal legal system, Emily's newest book, Andromeda Diaz and the

  21. 512 | How Public Advocacy Secured Missouri Public Defenders Pay Parity and Much More w/Matthew Crowell and Jet McDonald

    In this episode, Hunter revisits with Matthew Crowell, Director of the Missouri State Public Defender, and for the first time Jet McDonald, MSPD's newest Comms Strategist. They discussed how Matthew was able to use public and private advoca

  22. 511 | God Forgives, Brothers Don't: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood w/Jasper Craven

    On this episode, Hunter speaks with Jasper Craven, author of the book God Forgives, Brothers Don't: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood. While this episode takes us away from the world of Public Defense,

  23. 510 | What are a Defense Lawyer's Ethical Obligations When They Use A.I.? w/Mason Clark

    On this episode, Professor Mason Clark joins to discuss a new white paper he authored for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers titled Parity in Practice: The Defender's Duty to Ethically Use AI. Guest: Mason Clark, Associate

  24. 509 | How to Create Workload Standards for Public Defenders w/Malia Brink

    Since the release of the National Public Defender Workload Study, Malia Brink travelled the country helping Public Defenders create and implement workload standards. Now, she joins the show to discuss the new tool the Deason Center created

  25. 508 | Will Underfunding Push the Defenders Association of Philadelphia to Stop Accepting New Cases? w/Keisha Hudson

    In the last budget cycle, Keisha Hudson, Chief Defender of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, asked the city for $5 million. Instead, the city council and the mayor gave her office $0. Now, Keisha is looking at cutting back client se

  26. 507 | Robin "Rocky" Myers was Wrongfully Convicted of Murder. Was his Defense Lawyer in the Ku Klux Klan? w/Leah Nelson

    The State of Alabama sentenced Robin "Rocky" Myers to death after he was convicted of murder in 1994. Over the next 30 years, Rocky fought to prove his innocence, and with each passing year, the evidence of his innocence continued to grow.

  27. 506 | Pink Crime: How to Fight the Criminalization of Motherhood, Pregnancy, and Queer Identity w/Valena Beety

    Hunter is joined once again by Professor Valena Beety. Valena joins the show to discuss her new book, Pink Crime: Fighting Against the Criminalization of Motherhood, Pregnancy, and Queer Identity. In it, she discusses the cognitive biases,

  28. 505 | Will Automation Make it Harder to Keep Junk Science out of Court? w/Lisa Waters

    Hunter is joined once again by Professor Lisa Waters to discuss her law review article, Automating Junk Science. In it, Lisa details a troubling trend where police officers are using automated technology to "verify" that gun matches a bulle

  29. 504 | By Helping Victims and Perpetrators, Domestic Violence can Be Solved Without Relying on the Criminal Legal System w/Liz Ortenburger

    Hunter is joined by Liz Ortenburger, the CEO of Safe Nest. Liz and her team at Safe Nest operate a shelter and aid center for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. As Liz sees it, the conventional approach to domestic violence, pol

  30. 503 | Why is the NDS Union on Strike? UPDATE THEY WON!! w/Ashley Munger, Katherine Shamsie, and Samantha Rudelich

    Breaking news: As the evening of Aug 4, the NDS Union won a contract!! Hunter is joined by Ashley Munger, Katherine Shamsie, and Samantha Rudelich of the NDS Union. The union, representing NDS Harlem, NDS Detroit, and NDS Texas, have been o

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