Today, Hunter was joined by Danielle Harris, Managing Attorney of the Freedom Project at the San Francisco Public Defender Office. Thanks to mass incarceration policies like mandatory minimums and three strikes laws, thousands of people in California languish away serving brutally harsh sentences. Recognizing the cruelty, the state passed a series of laws aimed at giving people a pathway to early release, and for years, Danielle and her team at the Freedom Project have helped people get early release. Sadly, their grant funding is at an end, and this episode is a reminder that if we are serious about reducing the harms of mass incarceration, we must be willing to fund the mechanisms that undo it.

Guest:

Danielle Harris, Managing Attorney for the Freedom Project, San Francisco Public Defender

Resources:

Read about the stories in today's episode

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/magazine/juvenile-justice-california.html

https://wearedefender.com/forty-four-years & https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/SF-public-defender-unit-helps-Oakland-man-go-free-15301831.php

Learn More about the Freedom Project

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/public-defender-resentencing-program/

Contact the SF Public Defender

ttps://sfpublicdefender.org/

https://www.facebook.com/sfpublicdefender

https://x.com/sfdefender

https://www.instagram.com/sfpublicdefender/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

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Today, Hunter was joined once again by Professor Justin Murray. This time, Justin and Hunter discussed Justin's newest law review article, Brady's Shadow. In the article, Justin lays out the landmark Supreme Court Case Brady v. Maryland has left criminal defendants with a deeply flawed access to exculpatory evidence.

Guest:

Justin Murray, Professor of Law, New York Law School

Resources:

Read the Article Here

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5393687

Contact Justin

https://www.nyls.edu/faculty/justin-murray/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

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Today, Hunter was joined by two guests from the Brooklyn Defender Services, Heather Stoloff and Andie Markowitz. Unfortunately, today's conversation brings us another allegation of a public defender leader engaging in flagrant union busting efforts. A few months ago, the Executive Director of the organization called Andie in for a one on one meeting. In that meeting, Andie alleges that the Executive Director handed her instructions detailing how to dissolve the office's current union, how to create a new one, and as Andie understood it, that she would be rewarded for doing so.

Guest:

Heather Stoloff, Attorney Team Lead, Preserving Family Bonds Team, Brooklyn Defender Services

Andie Markowitz, Senior Social Worker, Brooklyn Defender Services

Resources:

Read More Here

https://queenseagle.com/all/2025/9/19/brooklyn-defender-services-boss-accused-of-union-busting-scheme

https://www.alaa.org/media-releases/resolution-condemning-lisa-schreibersdorf

https://hellgatenyc.com/brooklyn-defender-services-union-bust/

https://x.com/bds_union

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

Donate on Stripe

https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN

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https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home

Today, Hunter was joined by the CJA Panel Rep for New Mexico, Ryan Villa. The last time Hunter talked about CJA panels on the show he discussed how the federal government stopped paying the panels back in July. After months of not getting paid, Ryan and the rest of the New Mexico panel decided that enough was enough. They wrote a letter stating they would no longer be accepting new cases. With the future funding of this system in doubt, this could be a preview of what is in store for federal public defense in the near future.

Guest:

Ryan Villa, CJA Panel Rep, Federal District of New Mexico

Resources:

Contact Ryan [email protected]

Read the Letter

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/new-mexico-lawyers-stop-accepting-new-court-appointed-defense-work-over-funding-2025-11-05/

https://www.fd.org/news/new-mexico-defense-lawyers-stops-accepting-new-court-appointed-cases-over-shutdown

Memo in California

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/federal-judges-can-compel-lawyers-represent-defendants-without-pay-california-2025-11-07/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

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https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home

Today, Hunter was the President and Founder of #AfghanEvac, Shaw VanDiver. During our two decades of conflict in Afghanistan, America made a promise to hundreds of thousands of Afghans who helped our cause: work with us, and we will provide you safety from the Taliban. Yet when Kabul fell back into the hands of the Taliban, America left behind more than 195,000 of our allies in harms way. Shawn and his team at #AfghanEvac aim to fulfil the promise we made to our Afghan allies by assisting them in claiming asylum in the United States.

Guest:

Shawn VanDiver, President and Founder, #AfghanEvac

Resources:

Contact Shawn and His Team

https://afghanevac.org/

https://x.com/afghanevac

https://www.instagram.com/afghan_evac

https://www.youtube.com/c/AfghanEvac

https://www.facebook.com/AfghanEvac

https://www.tiktok.com/@afghanevac

https://truthsocial.com/@afghanevac

https://bsky.app/profile/afghanevac.bsky.social

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14026798/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

Donate on Stripe

https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN

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https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home

Today, Hunter was joined by Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull, Co-authors of the book, Jailhouse Lawyer. In this book, Sophie and Calvin tell the story of Calvin's life. As a teenager, Calvin was wrongfully charged with and ultimately convicted of a homicide. He faced a life sentence in Angola State Prison. For the nearly three decades that Calvin was wrongfully incarcerated, he worked as a jailhouse lawyer. In that role, he helped countless men, in hopeless legal situations challenge the conditions and legality of their confinement. Now, Calvin and Sophie are here to share the power that a jailhouse lawyer can have in radically challenging mass incarceration.

Guest:

Calvin Duncan, Co-Author of The Jailhouse Lawyer¸ Director of the Light of Justice Program

Sophie Cull, Co-Author of The Jailhouse Lawyer, Louisiana

Resources:

Contact Calvin

https://www.loyno.edu/academics/faculty-and-staff-directory/calvin-duncan

https://www.calvinduncan.com/

Pick up a Copy of the Book

https://www.calvinduncan.com/p/book-the-jailhouse-lawyer

Follow Them on Socials

https://www.instagram.com/jailhouse_lawyer/?hl=en

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

Donate on Stripe

https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN

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https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home

Today, Hunter was joined by Eric Seiferth and Nick Weldon of the New Orleans Historic Collection to discuss a historic exhibit they curated. The Captive State traces the story of mass incarceration to its historical roots to Louisiana's colonial slave holding past.

Guest:

Eric Seiferth, Curator/Historian, New Orleans Historic Collection

Nick Weldon, Senior Editor, New Orleans Historic Collection

Resources:

Buy the Book Here

https://hnoc.org/publishing/books/captive-state

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

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Today, Hunter was joined by two guest from the Detroit Justice Center, Nancy A. Parker and Rubina Mustafa. As they did on Tuesday, Hunter and his guests are exploring court related fines and fees, how fines and fees are impacting communities in Michigan, and the policies that have started the slow fight to eliminate court fines and fees.

Guest:

Nancy A. Parker, Executive Director, Detroit Justice Center

Rubina Mustafa, Senior Staff Attorney, Detroit Justice Center

Resources:

Detroit Justice Center

https://detroitjustice.org/

​​FOR GENERAL INQUIRIES:

[email protected]

​​FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:

[email protected]

Michigan Road to Restoration

https://www.michigan.gov/sos/license-id/road-to-restoration

Documentaries

https://finedout.com/new-mexico/

http://finedout.com/

https://finedout.com/michigan/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

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https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN

Trying to find a specific part of an episode? Use this link to search transcripts of every episode of the show!

https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home

Today, Hunter was joined once again by journalist Katey Rausch. Last time Katey was on the show, she discussed her bombshell reporting on the non-disclosure agreements law enforcement was using to hide the misconduct of law enforcement officers. Now, Katey is here to describe how that reporting has turned into a ban on those agreements and a state wide data base to allow people to track law enforcement misconduct.

Guest:

Katey Rusch, Record Requests Manager and Data Journalist, California Reporting Project, UC Berkeley School of Journalism

Resources:

Contact Katey

https://journalism.berkeley.edu/person/katey-rusch/

https://x.com/kateyrusch?lang=en

Read Katey's Work and About the Database

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2024/police-clean-record-agreements/

https://gijn.org/stories/investigating-police-officer-misconduct/

https://journalism.berkeley.edu/berkeley-and-stanford-police-database/

https://clean.calmatters.org/

https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/08/police-misconduct-records-database/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

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https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home

Today, Hunter spoke with Joanna Weiss, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center. Today, the two sat down to discuss FFJC's campaign to end court fines and fess the automatically revoke a person's driver's license nationally and in New Mexico

Guest:

Joanna Weiss, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Fines and Fees Justice Center

Resources:

FFJC

https://finesandfeesjusticecenter.org/

https://x.com/FinesandFeesJC

https://www.facebook.com/finesandfeesjc/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/finesandfeesjc/

https://bsky.app/profile/finesandfeesjc.bsky.social

https://www.youtube.com/@finesfeesjusticecenter9462

Reform in New Mexico

https://finesandfeesjusticecenter.org/2023/06/15/new-mexicos-drivers-license-suspension-reform-is-now-in-effect-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

Documentaries

https://finedout.com/new-mexico/

http://finedout.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Subscribe to the Patreon

www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast

Donate on PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ

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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!

https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home