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

[email protected]

SCCID

https://sccid.sc.gov/

Bond Laws

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/special_reports/bond-reform-law-one-year-impact-south-carolina-violent-crime/article_c1b6a062-3220-11ef-b36b-178c43f76495.html

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

https://aspenpublishing.com/products/crespo-criminallawamericanpenalsys?srsltid=AfmBOoqnaBc-2_PBCEJcaHFiEERzwgSJJwMWFPTXMtAl3xkWozObifci

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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/

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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

[email protected]

https://sfpublicdefender.org/

https://www.facebook.com/sfpublicdefender

https://x.com/sfdefender

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:                                

[email protected] 

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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

[email protected]

Email Maggie

[email protected]

Email Olivia

[email protected]

Contact Hunter Parnell:                                

[email protected] 

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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

[email protected]

Coverage of the Firings

https://lailluminator.com/2025/05/09/louisiana-lawmakers-deny-state-public-defenders-power-grab-again/

https://lailluminator.com/2025/04/08/louisiana-bill-might-thwart-local-public-defenders-fighting-to-keep-their-jobs/

https://www.nola.com/news/courts/5-louisiana-chief-public-defenders-to-lose-their-jobs/article_09b183a6-011e-11f0-9b21-3746a0d291e9.html

https://www.richlandtoday.com/article/459,public-defenders-defend-themselves-against-firings

https://www.kalb.com/2025/03/20/louisiana-public-defenders-accuse-state-official-violating-their-free-speech/

Contact Hunter Parnell:                                

[email protected] 

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@PublicDefenselessPodcast

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@PDefenselessPod

www.publicdefenseless.com 

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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

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vJByEFrCzPreZ1uEJ6Syc?si=_3kujCGWT7mgKrElVJ_gHQ&nd=1&dlsi=07c74dd5ccd94d61

Contact the Missouri Public Defender Here

https://publicdefender.mo.gov/

Contact Hunter Parnell:                                

[email protected] 

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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:                                

[email protected] 

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@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/

https://linktr.ee/iverydorsey?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaeLW1kjxY7sK62kuTiLNcatd3fyDP_Ef7irRMROOrygT6fcCLGeJSEVDP_kbg_aem_eBajaBuFJnQ9L3y15JR3jw

Read More About the Story Here

https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/02/princeton-news-broadfocus-making-an-exoneree-course-frees-third-person-ivery-dorsey

Contact Hunter Parnell:                                

[email protected] 

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Today, Hunter spoke with Harris County, Texas Chief Public Defender Alex Bunin. Just over a decade ago, Public Defense in Harris County looked like it did in most of the state. A group of private defense counsel contracted with the county to provide Public Defense. Unfortunately, Harris County was not spared of the many, well documented issues, with a primarily privately contracted public defense system. Then the county established the Public Defender Office, and since then, Alex and his team have gradually started taking on more cases and expanding the definition of what Public Defense is.

Guest

Alex Bunin, Chief Public Defender, Harris County, Texas

Resources:

Harris County Public Defender Website

https://hcpdo.org/

Contact Hunter Parnell:                                

[email protected] 

Instagram

@PublicDefenselessPodcast

Twitter                                                                

@PDefenselessPod

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