Public Defenseless

Today, Hunter spoke w/Shannon Wilson and Stephen Hanlon. Last fall, Shannon, the Executive Director of the Marion County Public Defender, filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Public Defense Commission to challenge new requirements in Oregon Public Defender contracts. Now, Shannon and Stephen join the show to explain why and what comes next for Oregon Public Defense.   Guest: Shannon Wilson, Executiv...

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Emily Galvin Almanza, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Partners for Justice and author of a new book, The Price of Mercy . In it, Emily expertly weaves together stories from her decades of work in Public Defense with social science that shows the benefits of non-carceral solutions to public safety issues.   Guest: Emily Galvin Almanza, Author, The Pri...

Today, Hunter was joined by Luke Brownfield, the Chief Public Defender in Humboldt County, California. With a shortage of attorneys willing to come to the county and the county being short on funding, Luke and his team face serious issues with workloads. Without more support from the state, it is unclear how Luke and his team will tackle the workload crisis without going unavailable like the San F...

Today, Hunter was joined by Judyanne Vallado, the Chief Public Defender in San Joaquin County, California. With a tough on crime DA and large amounts of gun crime, the San Joaquin County Public Defenders have long delt with difficult workloads, but now, with Prop 36 prosecutions increasing felony charges, the office may soon have to make the choice about when enough is enough.   Guest: Judyanne Va...

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Alameda County Chief Public Defender Brendon Woods. This time, they discuss how the office is handling their ever increasing workload due to Prop 36, how ICE enforcement is impacting their clients and communities, and why the state of California desperately needs to give county public defenders the protections they need to be independent voices for their comm...

Today, Hunter spoke once again with Rob Poggenklass and Bryan Kennedy from Justice Forward Virginia. Last year, Justice Forward Virginia joined the show to discuss the 2025 criminal justice policies being floated in Virginia. Today, Rob and Bryan are here to discuss what the 2026 legislative session has in store for criminal justice reform in Virginia, and how things might be different now that th...

Today, Hunter was joined by Stephen Saloom, the Director of Concerts of Indigent Defense. He joined the show to discuss Concerts for Indigent Defense and the share with us the lessons he has learned over a career of advocating for and passing criminal justice reform policies.   Guest: Stephen Saloom, Director, Concert for Indigent Defense   Resources: Learn More About Concerts for Indigent Defense...

Today, Hunter was joined by Samantha Pourciau of the Promise of Justice Initiative to discuss litigation they are brining to end the "Farm Line" at Angola State Prison. On previous episodes, the show has explored how Louisiana's mass incarceration system is rooted in the state's slave holding, colonial past. Few practices are more reminiscent of that past than the "farm line." This immoral practic...

Today, Hunter was joined by Ali Bloomquist and Cherise Fanno Burdeen PhD about their new paper titled "Emotion First Theory & Practice: Emotional Intelligence as Foundational Infrastructure for Equity Practice." In it, Ali and Cherise detail the importance of making the development of Emotional Intelligence as something that public defender systems and organizations need to prioritize. Without a s...

Today, Hunter was joined by the American Immigration Council's Aaron Reichlin-Melnick to discuss a new report published by AIC. Over the past two years, the Trump administration has rapidly expanded the use of and capacity of immigration detention. Aaron joins to detail how this has happened, what might come next, and the best ways to prevent it in the future.   Guest: Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Seni...

Today, Hunter was joined by Thomas Gant, a Community Organizer with the Center for Community Alternatives. Thomas joins the show to describe three different bills pending in New York that could chip away at the impacts of mass incarceration.   Guest: Thomas Gant, Community Organizer, Center for Community Alternatives   Resources:   Email Thomas tgant@communityalternatives.org Join the Coalition he...

Today, Hunter was joined by Alex Burness of Bolts Magazine to discuss his recent piece of reporting on American Samoans in Alaska. Specifically, Alex walks us through the history that gave American Samoans passports, social security numbers, but no right to vote. From there, Alex tells the story of a small American Samoan community that is facing decades in prison for voting when everyone thought...

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Mano Raju, the elected Chief Public Defender in the San Francisco Public Defender Office. Last time he was one the show, Mano explained why he decided to stop having his attorneys accept new case assignments on certain days of the week. Now, six months later, a judge has given the office an ultimatum: Accept new cases or be held in contempt.     Guest: Mano R...

Today, Hunter was joined by Max Miner the Founder of Executive Treatment Solutions. At one point in his life, Max hit rock bottom. Suffering with drug addiction, he reached the point where it thought it would be a good idea to get into a shootout with police officers. In a moment of clarity, he put down the weapon and started his road to recovery. Thanks to the work of an attorney who understood t...

Today, Hunter was joined by Alex Flood and Dan Fitzgerald of the Denver Municipal Public Defender Office. Today's episode focuses on the holistic public defender model in the office that leans on the expertise of lawyers, social workers, and system impacted people to combat the City's efforts to punish poverty.   Guest: Alex Flood, Public Defender, Denver Municipal Public Defender Office Dan Fiztg...

Today, Hunter was joined by Jessie Lenhardt, a Management Consultant with Moss Adams. In her time as a consultant, Jessie has helped countless government agencies, including public defenders, improve the organization structures and practices. Today, she joins the show to discuss on her reflections in helping public defender offices implement workload studies.   Guest: Jessie Lenhardt, Senior Manag...

Today, Hunter was joined by Olivia Miller and Dallas Anselmo of the Clark County Public Defender Office. They joined to discuss the "corridor court" operating along the Las Vegas Strip. This specialty court, created at the urging of the casinos and resorts, funnels criminal defendants into a singular court room where people can be effectively banished from the entirety of the strip for seemingly m...

Today, Hunter wraps up 2025 with one last episode! Guest: Resources: Top 10 Episodes of 2025 334 | Was a Former Colorado Public Defender Fired for Raising Concerns over his Workload? w/Travis Weiner 335 | How Sec Def Austin Interfered with the 9/11 and U.S.S. Cole Case Plea Deals w/Allison Miller and Katie Carmon 336 | How the San Mateo Private Defender Program is Trying to Earn Back the Community...

Today, Hunter was joined by Mohammed Al Rawi and Ryan Wolfe of ZLS.App. The three discussed how ZLS is helping public defenders improve case management with automated systems. With better case management systems, public defenders are better equipped to collect and track the data that public defenders need to justify their requests to the legislatures.   Guest: Mohammed Al Rawi, Co-Founder. ZLS.app...

Today, Hunter was joined by the new Chief Public Defender for the state of Missouri, Matthew Crowell. Matthew and Hunter discussed a range of topics that Matthew is now facing as the Chief and how he hopes to tackle them.   Guest: Matthew Crowell, Chief Public Defender, Missouri   Resources: Contact the Missouri Public Defender Here https://publicdefender.mo.gov/  Lawsuit https://www.aclu-mo.org/e...

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Stanislaus County Chief Public Defender Jennifer Jennison. Last time she was one the show, Jennifer detailed how she made the decision to make her office unavailable for new cases because of the unethical workload in her office. Now, Jennifer is back to tell us what came of that decision and what is next for the office.   Guest: Jennifer Jennison, Chief Publi...

Today, Hunter was joined by Bolts Magazine staff writer, Lauren Gill. Back in September, Lauren authored a remarkable piece about how a small county in rural Arkansas responded to the threat of a new prison being built in their back yard.   Guest: Lauren Gill, Staff Writer, Bolts Mag   Resources: Check Out Lauren's Work https://x.com/laurenk_gill https://boltsmag.org/authors/lauren-gill/ Read the...

Today, Hunter was joined by Greg Egan and John Choi. For the first time on the show, a Public Defender and the District Attorney join the show at the same time to describe how their collaborative efforts have improved public safety without mass incarceration.   Guest: Greg Egan, Public Defender, Ramsey County, Minnesota John Choi, Elected District Attorney, Ramsey County, Minnesota   Resources: Co...

Today, Hunter was joined once again by Andrew Davies and Shelby Sirivore of the Deason Center. This time, the two join the show to help us understand the policy decisions that local governments make that increase or decrease the likelihood that a person who cannot afford an attorney will actually get one appointed if they want it.   Guest: Andrew Davies, Director of Research, Deason Center, Southe...

Today, Hunter was joined by Los Angeles Deputy Public Defender Noah Coax. Noah leads the office's Neurocognitive Disorder Team that has charted a new path for public defenders to properly represent clients with cognitive impairments.   Guest: Noah Cox, Deputy Public Defender, Neurocognitive Disorder Team, Los Angeles Public Defender   Resources: More About NDT https://pubdef.lacounty.gov/gold-eagl...