Across the country, a movement of so called progressive prosecutors has become a focal point of political commentary around the criminal legal system. Today, Hunter spoke with three Chief Public Defenders, Mano Raju, Keisha Hudson, and Ricardo Garcia to discuss their observations and perspectives dealing with these progressive prosecutors. For each of the guests and Hunter, there is a universal agreement that this movement is directionally a massive improvement over old school tough on crime prosecutors, but we also acknowledge there are severe limitations on what they can do. From the recall of Chesa Boudin to the massive pushback against Larry Krasner and George Gascon, the politics of crime make it challenging for this DAs to reach all of their lofty promises.

Guest:

Keisha Hudson, Chief Public Defender, Defenders of Association of Philadelphia

Ricardo Garcia, Chief Public Defender, Los Angeles

Mano Raju, Chief Public Defender, San Francisco

Resources

Defenders Association of Philadelphia

https://phillydefenders.org/home/

Follow Philly Defenders

https://twitter.com/phillydefenders/

Follow Philly Defenders on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/phillydefenders/

LA County Public Defender

https://pubdef.lacounty.gov/

Follow LA Public Defender on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/lapubdef/

SF Public Defender

https://sfpublicdefender.org/

SF Public Defender on Twitter

https://twitter.com/sfdefender

Pamela Price

https://abc7news.com/alameda-county-district-attorney-pamela-price-jasper-wu-delonzo-logwood/13100531/

Larry Krasner

https://www.inquirer.com/news/da-larry-krasner-record-convictions-cases-guns-homicides-20221121.html#:~:text=In%20a%20statement%20attacking%20what,shootings%20and%2079%25%20for%20nonfatal.

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Today, Hunter spoke with James McDermott and Paul Chambers, two Public Defenders from the Far West Texas Office, to discuss their vision for a better model for Public Defense Delivery. According to the ABA and basically every Public Defender organization, vertical representation is what all offices should strive for. Under this model, attorneys handle every aspect of the case from first appearance to disposition, but is this really the best model available? In their office, James and Paul have moved towards something they refer to as "ensemble representation". With more of a flat power dynamic, their model deemphasizes the role of the attorney in an effort to truly put the client at the center of the representation.

Guest:

James McDermott, Chief Public Defender, Far West Texas Public Defense

Paul Chambers, Deputy Chief Public Defender, Far West Texas Public Defense

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Today, Hunter sat down with Alexandra Pray, Deputy Public Defender in San Francisco and Board Member of the Public Defender Union, to discuss the unique arrangement the City Attorneys, Prosecutors, and Public Defenders have in SF. When we've discussed Public Defense Unions, we ordinarily hear about coalitions of Public Defenders and sometimes all staff members coming together to advocate for better conditions, better workloads, and better pay, but in San Francisco, Public Defenders have a strange ally in the fight for better working conditions. In what may better be described as a collective bargaining agreement, the City Attorneys, Prosecutors, and Public Defenders work together to negotiate better pay and working conditions. How are they able to put aside radical differences in viewpoints around the criminal legal system to find solidarity? Tune in to listen to Alexandra explain how this unique arrangement works.

Guest:

Alexandra Pray, Deputy Public Defender, San Francisco

Resources:

Adachi Project

https://www.adachiproject.com/

SF Standard

https://sfstandard.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Today, Hunter spoke with Diego Alcala, a criminal defense attorney in Puerto Rico, to better understand the challenges the island faces in the criminal legal system. From years of experience as a criminal defense attorney in Puerto Rico and other parts of the United States, Diego cuts through the complicated legal layers to get at a core issue plaguing Puerto Rico: For more than a century, the island has been subjected to the whims of the United States, and the lack of self-determination, access to health care, and continued imposition of the United States' will serves as a severe determent to the flourishing of Puerto Ricans.

Guest:

Diego Alcala, Criminal Defense Attorney, Puerto Rico

Resources:

Follow Diego on Twitter

https://twitter.com/DiegoAlcalaPR

Connect with Diego on Linked In

https://pr.linkedin.com/in/diegoalcala

See Diego's Work on his website

www.Abolicinonista.com

Learn More About Puerto Rico and the Insular Cases

https://www.fivefourpod.com/episodes/united-states-v-vaello-madero/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9wyx_dqzAg

https://shows.acast.com/fivefourpod/episodes/the-insular-cases-teaser

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

"Well I grew up poor and I didn't go off committing crimes!" Arguably, this is the most common response those that work in the field of mitigation hear when they are trying to explain what mitigation is. To tackle this question and discuss take another look at the importance of non-capital mitigation, Hunter spoke with Victoria Rusk. She is a mitigation expert, author, and founder of Mitigation University and Heart of Justice, and on today's episode, Victoria and Hunter take another deep dive at trying to understand the best way to confront the biases that jurors, judges, prosecutors, and yes, public defenders, have during a criminal trial. In confronting these biases, there is hope that a mitigation specialist can connect the various stakeholders in the legal system with the humanity of the defendants in each case.

Guest:

Victoria Rusk, Founder of Mitigation University and Heart of Justice

Resources:

Follow Victoria on Linked In

https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-rusk-a4695292?trk=public_post_feed-actor-name

Heart of Justice

https://www.heartofjustice.org/

Mitigation University

https://mitigationuniversity.com/

"The French" Tweet

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/chrisobrien/2023/01/27/ap-apologizes-for-the-french-tweet-that-triggered-viral-backlash/amp/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

If you spend anytime watching news in the past 3 years, you have likely heard about San Francisco. Normally, that conversation revolves around the state of public safety in the city, and often, it is presented from the perspective of progressive prosecution. Today, Hunter had on Mano Raju, Chief Public Defender of the San Francisco, to give a different perspective on the path forward for public safety in the city. As an elected official, Mano is uniquely situated to speak with community leaders and organizers to explain why a reversion to the tough on crime era is not best for the public safety of San Francisco.

Guest:

Mano Raju, Chief Public Defender, San Francisco

Resources:

Follow Mano on Twitter

https://twitter.com/ManoRajuPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Follow SF Defenders on Twitter

https://twitter.com/sfdefender

SF Defender Website

https://sfpublicdefender.org/

Follow SF Defenders on Instagram

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

Adachi Project

https://www.adachiproject.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

For more than one-third of a Americans, there is a record of their interaction with the criminal legal system. These records and the bureaucracy that controls them help make up a powerful paper prison that stops millions from ever accessing a meaningful second chance. Today, Hunter spoke with Professor Colleen Chien and Alyssa Aguilar about the Paper Prison Initiative to understand the problem. In some cases, people simply do not know how to access their second chance. In others, there are intentionally complicated barriers designed to get as many people as possible not to access their second chance. Whatever the reason may be, Colleen and Alyssa are dedicated to dismantling the impacts of these invisible but powerful Paper Prisons.

Guest:

Colleen Chien, Professor of Law, University of Santa Clara Law School, Founder, Paper Prison Initiative

Alyssa Aguilar, Juris Doctor Candidate 2023, University of Santa Clara Law School

Resources:

Professor Colleen Chien Faculty Page

https://law.scu.edu/faculty/profile/chien-colleen/

Paper Prison Initiative

https://paperprisons.org/

Follow Paper Prisons Project on Twitter

https://twitter.com/paperprisons?lang=en

Follow Alyssa on Twitter

https://twitter.com/AlyssaLAguilar

Follow Colleen on Twitter

https://twitter.com/colleen_chien

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Today, Hunter spoke with David Siegel, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law and Social Responsibility at New England Law, to discuss the ethical and social obligations of attorneys. Specifically, Hunter and David unpack the ways in which law schools are failing to educate and equip future lawyers with an understanding of a practical understanding of the law. Law school does a wonderful job of teaching students the theory of the law, but in failing to show the ways the theory falls short of the practice of law, students can graduate without an understanding of the realities in which the legal system abuses poor people and their public defenders. While it is not an easy task, hopefully this conversation will spark a deeper reflection on the many ways in which law school can be overhauled to create more ethical and socially responsible lawyers.

Guest:

David Siegel, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law and Social Responsibility at New England Law

Resources:

David Siegel Faculty Page

https://www.nesl.edu/academics-faculty/faculty/profile/siegel-david

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Today, Hunter spoke with Felicia Tempel, Senior Investigator in the Barron County, Wisconsin Public Defender Office. As with all of the episodes covering a smaller Public Defender Offices, today's show is all about understanding the challenges that similarly cash and personnel regions of the country face in trying to create vibrant Public Defense Offices. If you will recall my episode on the lawsuit facing the state of Wisconsin, rural Wisconsin is struggling to get enough resources for contract counsel. As such, there are understandable short falls for the institutional Public Defender Offices as the state seeks to deal with one problem at a time. For the people who the office represent though? Waiting for more resources to come in might not be an option.

Guest:

Felicia Tempel, Senior Investigator, Barron County, Wisconsin

Resources:

Barron County Wisconsin PD Office

https://howtojustice.org/resources-services/barron-county-public-defenders-office-wi/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com

Today, Hunter sat down with Lindsay Bendell, LCSW Forensic Social Worker & Mitigation Specialist, to discuss the importance of non-capital mitigation. The concept of mitigation is a commonly known part of capital cases. In practice, mitigation are often some of the most important factors in getting someone a sentence of life over death. With that said, mitigation is almost unheard of in non-capital cases. Lindsay is hoping to change that. On today's episode, Hunter and Lindsay talked about the ins and outs of non-capital mitigation, why it is so essential to injecting empathy into the legal system, and why it isn't "making excuses" for bad behavior.

Guest:

Lindsay Bendell, LCSW Forensic Social Worker & Mitigation Specialist

Resources:

Follow Lindsay on

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lbendell_lcsw?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimesocialworker/

Community Justice Services

https://www.communityjusticeservices.com/

Contact Hunter Parnell:

[email protected]

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter

@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com