Public Defenseless

Today, Hunter spoke with Kerrie Liang, a student at Princeton University, to discuss the wrongful conviction of Ivery Dorsey. Through her and classmates work at Princeton, Kerrie walks us through how the inconsistent eye witness testimony of one person ultimately led to the wrongful conviction of Ivery.   Guest Kerrie Liang, Student, Princeton University   Resources: More Resources about Ivery's C...

Today, Hunter spoke with Hans Meyer and Holly Lucas to discuss a variety of topics at the intersection of the criminal legal and immigration systems. With the Trump administration poised to implement a policy of mass deportation, Hans and Holly offer insights into how they have worked in court rooms and the Colorado State Legislature to guide Colorado to more humane immigration policies.     Guest...

Today, Hunter spoke with Senior Reporter at The Appeal, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg. A few weeks ago, Hunter was joined by Phil Wilayto of the Virginia Defender to talk about why prisoners of Virginia's Red Onion Prison were lighting themselves on fire. Today, Elizabeth joins to reveal how despite the public proclamations by DOC officials, prisoners were lighting themselves on fire all along.   Gues...

Today, Hunter spoke with Professor Brittany Freidman about her new book Carceral Apartheid . In this book, Professor Freidman tells the story of the California Prison System, the racist violence the system permits to exist, and how the prison system used all of us power to crush the political arm of the Black Guerilla Family. Through this conversation, Hunter and Professor Freidman hope to demonst...

Today, Hunter sat down with Scott Troxell to wrap up our conversation on Colorado Municipal Courts. This time, the conversation focuses on how Rifle Municipal Courts were giving people 6 Months sentences for thefts that the state only gave 10 day sentences.    Guest Scott Troxell, Attorney, Glenwood Springs, Colorado   Resources: 2017 ACLU Report on Colorado Municipal Courts https://www.aclu-co.or...

Today, Hunter sat down with longtime death penalty abolitionist activist Abraham Bonowitz. On previous episodes about death penalty abolition, the show has primarily focused on the successes and failures of the fight in the court room. Today however, Abe joins the show to discuss the types of media campaigns and coalition building that is necessary to fight and ultimately abolish the death penalty...

Today, Hunter sat down with Keri Williams to continue our coverage of Municipal Courts in Colorado. This time, they discussed how Pueblo Municipal Courts were giving people years in jail for contempt of court charges.   Guest Keri Williams, Attorney, Pueblo, Colorado   Resources: 2017 ACLU Report on Colorado Municipal Courts https://www.aclu-co.org/sites/default/files/JUSTICE-DERAILED-web.pdf Cove...

Today, Hunter sat down with Alison Gordon to continue our coverage of Municipal Courts in Colorado. This time, the discussion focuses on the extremely punitive Westminster Municipal Court.   Guest Alison Gordon, Associate Attorney, McCabe Law   Resources: 2017 ACLU Report on Colorado Municipal Courts https://www.aclu-co.org/sites/default/files/JUSTICE-DERAILED-web.pdf  Contact Alison Alison@mccabe...

Today, Tristan Gorman and Rebecca Wallace are back this time to discuss municipal courts in Colorado. This episode is the first of our four-part series on municipal courts in Colorado. This episode gives a general overview of problems in this courts and then dives into the outright denial of counsel happening in Grand Junction's Municipal Court.   Guest Tristan Gorman, Policy Director, Colorado Cr...

Today, Tristan Gorman and Rebecca Wallace join the show to discuss the policies, ballot initiatives, and rhetoric from district attorneys that is pushing Colorado back in a "tough on crime" direction. Through their work with their respective organizations, Rebecca and Tristan are intimately familiar with the conversations that the state legislature engage in around crime and the criminal legal sys...

A Bonus Episode for everyone! On Monday, I had a discussion/debate with Daniel Carr, a former cop from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Today, we discussed/debated the use of force in the SrA Roger Fortson, the Execution of Marcellus Williams, and the citation issued to a homeless, pregnant woman in Louisville Kentucky Guest Daniel Carr, Police Law Newsletter Resources: Links to Daniel's Work https://link...

Thank you to everyone who has made the show possible this year. Whether you are a listener, a subscriber, a guest, or a friend of the show, this show would not be possible without you! Thanks for another amazing year, and Hunter is looking forward to another incredible year in 2025.  *NO EPISODES THIS THURSDAY OR NEXT TUESDAY*   Contact Hunter Parnell:                                  Publicdefens...

Today, Hunter is joined by professor Ráchael Powers to discuss Marsy's Law. For those unfamiliar, Marsy's Law is one of many types of Victim's Bill of Rights law that exist around the country. These laws are designed to give victims of crime more rights in the criminal legal system. The only problem? They often directly conflict with the rights of the accused. Today, Ráchael joins us to talk about...

Today, Hunter is joined once again by Eric Fish and Chesa Boudin. This time, Eric and Chesa join the show to discuss a recent law review article they published discussing ways to strengthen pre-trial adjudication. As discussed at length on the show, our criminal legal system has killed the jury trial. As a result, opportunities to bring injustices, misconduct, and corruption to light have faded aw...

Today, Hunter is joined by Professor Jacob Charles to discuss the Second Amendment. Since D.C. v Heller in 2008, the Second Amendment transformed from nearly dead letter law to one of the most rapidly changing areas of the Constitution. Jake joins the show to detail that transformation and explain the impacts it is having on our legal system.   Guests: Jacob Charles, Professor of Law, Pepperdine U...

Today, Hunter is joined by Dr. Julie Mack and Randy Papetti to discuss Shaken Baby Syndrome. Also known as Abusive Head Trauma, Shaken Baby Syndrome started out as an untested hypothesis meant to help parents keep their children safe. However, police and prosecutors quickly realized the power SBS had to secure convictions. Since then, dozens of people's convictions have been overturned as courts a...

Today, Hunter is joined by Rob Perkins and Dan Eichinger to discuss Public Defense in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. If you've listened to the show long enough, then you know that Pennsylvania was one of the last states to provide any funding for Public Defense. While the $7.5 million allocated to support Public Defense is welcome, it is insufficient to account for the decades of underfunding/und...

Today, Hunter is joined by Professor Stephen Bright to discuss his new book, the Fear of Too Much Justice. Over decades of work as an attorney, Steve has been a leading voice against the death penalty and in support of major overhauls to our criminal legal system. Today, Steve joins the show to discuss how the Fear of Too Much Justice is stopping people from reforming our criminal legal system.  ...

Today, Hunter is joined the Editor of the Virginia Defender Newspaper, Phil Wilayto to try and understand a simple question: Why are people incarcerated at Virginia's Red Onion State Super Max Prison self-immolating just to get transferred to a new prison?     Guests: Phil Wilayto, Editor, Virginia Defender Newspaper   Resources: On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & E...

Today, Hunter is joined by Professor Joanna Schwartz to discuss Civil Rights Litigation. Like they did for the rights of criminal defendants, the conservative legal movement has slowly chipped away at Civil Rights protections under Section 1983. Today, Joanna joins to talk about the many ways it is nearly impossible for a person to get a remedy after the government violates their civil rights.    ...

Today, Hunter is joined by Amanda Jack of the New York Legal Aid Society. Today, Amanda and Hunter are discussing the Harvey Weinstein trial. Specifically, they are discussing why the conviction was overturned, why the New York legislature is trying to change the rules of evidence, and why it's a terrible idea for them to do it.   Guests: Amanda Jack, Policy Director Criminal Practice, NY Legal Ai...

Today, Hunter is joined once again by Andre de Gruy, Chief Public Defender of Mississippi. The last time Andre was on the show, he and Hunter discussed some positive changes he was hoping to get out of the 2024 legislative session. While not everything from the last episode came to pass, Andre believes Mississippi public defense is ever so slowly improving.   Guests: Andre de Gruy, State Public De...

Today, Hunter is joined be the Co-Founder of Reduct, Prabhas Pokharel. Building from Tuesday's conversation about tech, AI, and Public Defense, Hunter and Prabhas explore the ways AI and Reduct can help Public Defenders take on Police and Prosecutors.   Guests: Prabhas Pokharel, Co-Founder, Reduct Resources: Reduct Website, Socials, and Contact https://reduct.video/ https://x.com/ReductVideo prabh...

Today, Hunter is joined once again by Professor Andrew Ferguson. Last time Andrew was on the show, he and Hunter discussed the state of the 4th Amendment in the digital era. This time, Hunter and Andrew dive into three law review articles Andrew has recently published. The first discussed a new framework for analyzing the 4th Amendment. The second and third articles are all about new, dangerous wa...

Today, Hunter is joined by IV Ashton, Founder and President of Legal Server, to discuss how a quality case management system and powerful AI tools can help Public Defenders pose more systemic challenges to police and prosecutors   Guests: IV Ashton, President and Founder, Legal Server   Resources: Legal Server Website https://www.legalserver.org/   Contact Hunter Parnell:                          ...