Stay ConnectedAnyone 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.
Today, Hunter was joined once again Elisabeth Pollock and for the first time Stephanie Kollmann. On today's episode, the three discuss the Fair Act in Illinois. This pending piece of legislation is set to be the first step for the state of Illinois to provide statewide support to Public Defense. Will it happen? Why is it necessary? All that and more on today's episode.
Guest
Elisabeth Pollock, Chief Public Defender, Champaign County, Illinois
Stephanie Kollmann, Policy Director, Children Family Justice Center, Northwestern University School of Law
Resources:
Sixth Amendment Center Illinois
https://6ac.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/6AC_illinois_report_2021.pdf
Task Force Report
Fair Act
https://ilpublicdefenderstats.org/fairact/
Contact Stephanie
https://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/cfjc/aboutus/
Contact Hunter Parnell:
Publicdefenseless@gmail.com
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod
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Today, Hunter was joined once again by the Chief Public Defender for South Carolina's 9th Circuit, Cameron Blazer. This time, we discuss workload issues in her Circuit and how a new bail laws and immigration enforcement are making matters worse.
Guest
Cameron Blazer, Circuit Public Defender, 9th Circuit, Charleston and Berkley, South Carolina
Resources:
Email Cameron Here
CBlazer@charlestoncounty.org
SCCID
Bond Laws
https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess125_2023-2024/bills/3532.htm
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Today, Hunter was joined by Professor Andrew Crespo to continue the conversation about how we can improve how criminal law is taught. On this episode, we dive into the new criminal law text book that Andrew and his co-author, John Rappaport, recently published to learn a better way to teach criminal law.
Guest
Andrew Crespo, Professor of Law, Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law Executive Faculty Director, Institute to End Mass Incarceration, Harvard University
Resources:
Andrew's Faculty Page
https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/andrew-m-crespo/
Andrew and John's Book
Contact Hunter Parnell:
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Today, Hunter was joined by Professor Alice Ristroph for the first of a two-part focus on how and why we teach Criminal Law the way we do. On today's episode, Hunter and Alice explore the historical roots of criminal law teaching, critique it, and discuss ways in which we can improve how criminal law is taught to law students.
Guest
Alice Ristroph, Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
Resources:
Contact Alice Here
https://www.brooklaw.edu/contact-us/ristroph-alice/writings/
Read Alice's Law Review Article
https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/faculty/1257/
Contact Hunter Parnell:
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@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod
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Today, Hunter was joined once again by Mano Raju, the Elected Chief Public Defender in San Francisco. In the past couple of weeks, Mano made the difficult decision to stop accepting new case assignments one day a week. Thanks to the tough on crime policies of DA Brooke Jenkins and Prop 36, the workloads for San Francisco Public Defenders have reach unsustainable numbers. How did we get here, what comes next, and will this be a harbinger of things to come in California? All that and more on today's episode.
Guest
Mano Raju, Chief Public Defender, San Francisco, California
Resources:
Coverage of the Office
https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/09/public-defender-fentanyl-san-francisco-lurie/
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/sf-public-defender-caseload-20329216.php
Contact Mano or the Office
manohar.raju@sfgov.org
https://www.facebook.com/sfpublicdefender
https://www.instagram.com/sfpublicdefender/
https://bsky.app/profile/manorajupd.bsky.social
https://x.com/manorajupd?lang=en
Pictures of Beans
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1feblbsr1Nc4m-LrM4exCO3PyCM4v4ke7?usp=drive_link
Contact Hunter Parnell:
Publicdefenseless@gmail.com
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod
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Today, Hunter was joined by Bob Kolstad, Maggie Bott, and Olivia Henstein to discuss why they are pushing Minnesota Public Defenders to create a new, independent union. In the past few years, the current union, organize under Teamsters, was able to secure massive salary raises for Public Defenders around the state. However, that strike threat was built without much help or support from the leadership of the Teamster's union. As a result, rank and file members, public defenders and the staff of the offices, are considering starting their own public defender lead union.
Guest
Bob Kolstad, Public Defender, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Maggie Bott, Public Defender, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Olivia Henstein, Paralegal, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Resources:
Check out UDAM Here
https://uniteddefenseadvocatesminnesota.org/
Email Bob
bob@robertkolstad.com
Email Maggie
mabott95@gmail.com
Email Olivia
olhenstein@yahoo.com
Contact Hunter Parnell:
Publicdefenseless@gmail.com
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod
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Today, Hunter was joined by longtime Louisiana Criminal Defense Lawyer and President of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer, Jim Boren. Over the past year, Hunter has discussed the erosion of public defender independence since Remy Starns became the chief public defender of the state. Now, Remy Starns is slated to fire five chief public defenders from around the state who opposed some of the policies that consolidated power into his hands. Today's episode is all about how this has happened and what the criminal defense bat should do in response.
Guest
Jim Boren, President, Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Resources:
Email Jim
jim@jamesboren.com
Coverage of the Firings
https://www.richlandtoday.com/article/459,public-defenders-defend-themselves-against-firings
Contact Hunter Parnell:
Publicdefenseless@gmail.com
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod
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Today, Hunter was joined by a whole host of characters from the Missouri Public Defender System. When Hunter last looked into Missouri Public Defense, he spoke with Annie Legomsky to discuss the remarkable project of implementing Holistic Defense statewide. As one of the only statewide systems with holistic defense, Missouri stands as a great example of how finding creative sources of funding can allow Public Defenders to demonstrate to legislators the potential Public Defense has to improve the community once it has the funding to work outside of the four corners of the court room.
Guest
Mary Fox, Chief Public Defender, Missouri
Kellie Duckering, District Defender, Carthage, Missouri
Camille Iorio, Disposition Specialist, Child Defense Team, St. Louis, Missouri
Ben Greene, Mitigation Specialist, Springfield, Missouri
Mae Redmond, Client Advocate, Partners for Justice
Mikayla Kitchen, Holistic Advocate, Missouri
Resources:
Listen to My Episode w/Annie Here
Contact the Missouri Public Defender Here
https://publicdefender.mo.gov/
Contact Hunter Parnell:
Publicdefenseless@gmail.com
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod
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Today, Hunter was joined once again by Anthony Benedetti, Chief Counsel of the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services. This time, Hunter and Anthony dive into what can be done about the low hourly rates for CPCS's contract counsel and how recent courage from the bench and the state house gives them hope that those pay increases are in fact possible.
Guest
Anthony Benedetti, Chief Counsel, Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services
Resources:
CPCS Website
https://www.publiccounsel.net/
Listen to my first episode with Anthony Here
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3OxwnFFjrC1ruJPSDFywp5?autoplay=true
Contact Hunter Parnell:
Publicdefenseless@gmail.com
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod
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Today, Hunter was joined by Ivery Dorsey, a man who for the last 18 years was incarcerated for a homicide he did not commit. On a previous episode on the show, Hunter spoke with one of the students, Kerrie Liang, who have been fighting to prove Ivery's innocence, but today, Ivery joins the show to tell his story. From the representation he received, the conditions of his confinement, and how he hopes to pursue his dreams of shoe design and music production, Ivery's hope for a better future is contagious.
Guest
Ivery Dorsey, Musician, Shoe Designer, and Formerly Wrongfully Incarcerated
Resources:
Find Ivery's Work Here
https://www.instagram.com/bringiveryhome/
Read More About the Story Here
Contact Hunter Parnell:
Publicdefenseless@gmail.com
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod
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Trying to find a specific part of an episode? Use this link to search transcripts of every episode of the show!
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