Today, Hunter spoke with Natasha Dartigue, the Chief Public Defender of the Maryland Office of Public Defense. This time, Natasha and Hunter spoke about the workload crisis facing the state and a slate of new criminal legal policies that are pushing Maryland in a better direction.

Guest:

Natasha Dartigue, Chief Public Defender, Maryland

Resources:

Maryland Public Defender

https://opd.state.md.us/

Immigration (both bills passed and went into effect 6/1/25):

• Sensitive locations: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0828
• MD Values Act: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb1222

National workloads:

• Annual report: https://opd.state.md.us/_files/ugd/8cb54c_7eabe4b48b944b209533fe9f6332605b.pdf

Youth Justice:

• Last year's bill to limit the automatic charging of children as adults (did not pass): https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0422
• Our one-pager on the issue: https://opd.state.md.us/_files/ugd/8cb54c_9460bce1042a4eecbcba1b7e17e6f715.pdf

Second Look Act (goes into effect 10/1/25):

• https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0853

Parental Defense:

• Know Before They Knock bill (did not pass): https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0223
• Preventing Harm of Separation one-pager: https://opd.state.md.us/_files/ugd/868471_3f9ec04e1aa449669a307ea0fbd471c6.pdf
• Know Before They Knock 1-pager: https://opd.state.md.us/_files/ugd/868471_840039a4932143ee927752745c619647.pdf

Safer Traffic Stops:

• SB292/HB635 (did not pass): https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0292
• One-pager on SB292: https://opd.state.md.us/_files/ugd/8cb54c_880a090626d046f0a536bd4ea12ebcaa.pdf

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

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