Public Defenseless

Updated: 02 Oct 2025 • 412 episodes
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Anyone 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. Like so many of you, Hunter is not an attorney, simply tired of a news cycle and talking heads that offer no real solutions to the ever-growing list of problems we face. Hunter hopes that with this information, you will share his belief that ordinary people still can make a difference.

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Today, Hunter was joined by Professor Joshua Clark Daivs to discuss his new book, Police Against the Movement. In the book, Professor Davis tells the often forgotten story of how police departments surveilled, infiltrated, and sabotaged civil rights movements that challenged the power of police.   Guest: Joshua Clark D

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Today, Hunter was joined by Professor Shira Diner to discuss the Bar Advocate work stoppage in the state of Massachusetts. Back in May, the Bar Advocates, the private defense lawyers who handle 80% of Massachusetts’s public defender workload, stopped taking new cases due to the incredibly low hourly rate they are paid.

71 min
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Today, Hunter was joined by Caneel Fraser and Tatyana Kaplan of California’s Office of the State Public Defender. The three sat down to discuss an OSPD report, Unequal Scales, to explore how and why Public Defender’s are so underfunded in comparison to prosecutors.   Guest: Caneel Fraser, Executive Director, Indigent D

60 min
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Today, Hunter was joined once again by Alec Karatkatsanis. This time, Alec is here discussing Copaganda, cop fueled propaganda that shapes the way our society understands crime, the criminal legal system, and most importantly, convinces people that the only way to make our communities safer is by increasing our policin

71 min
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Today, Hunter was joined by John J. Lennon to discuss his new book, The Tragedy of True Crime: Four Guilty Men and the Stories that Define Us. John is a currently incarcerated journalist who presents the stories of four men, Michael Shane Hale, Robert Chambers, Milton Jones, and his own, in his book. Each of these men

63 min
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Today, Hunter was joined by Will Snowden of the Juror Project to discuss how they plan on revitalizing the jury around the country.     Guest: Will Snowden, Director, The Juror Project   Resources: The Juror Project https://www.thejurorproject.org/ https://www.thejurorproject.org/contact https://www.instagram.com/juror

70 min
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