

Public Defenseless
Hunter Parnell
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.
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 25, 2025 • 1h 10min
421 | How the Law Makes it So Easy for Prosecutors to Withhold Evidence w/Justin Murray
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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Nov 20, 2025 • 1h 20min
420 | Did the Executive Director of the Brooklyn Defender Services Flagrantly try to Union Bust? w/Heather Stoloff and Andie Markowitz
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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Nov 19, 2025 • 45min
419 | Why did The CJA Panel in New Mexico Stop Accepting New Cases? w/Ryan Villa
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 ryan@rjvlawfirm.com 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Nov 18, 2025 • 57min
418 | The Organization Trying to Help More than 195,000 Afghan Allies Find Safety w/Shawn VanDiver
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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Nov 13, 2025 • 1h 8min
417 | How a Jailhouse Lawyer Challenged Louisiana's Mass Incarceration from Inside Angola Prison w/Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull
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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Nov 11, 2025 • 1h 7min
416 | How Louisiana Built the Project of Mass Incarceration w/Nick Weldon and Eric Seiferth
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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Nov 6, 2025 • 1h 5min
415 | How the Detroit Justice Center is Helping People Eliminate Their Court Fines and Fees w/Nancy A. Parker and Rubina Mustafa
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: info@detroitjustice.org FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES: media@detroitjustice.org 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Nov 5, 2025 • 30min
414 | How California Built a Database to Track Police Misconduct w/Katey Rusch
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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Nov 4, 2025 • 1h 5min
413 | How New Mexico Joined in On the Fight to End Harmful Court Fines and Fees w/Joanna Weiss
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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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

Oct 30, 2025 • 1h 6min
412 | How Pre-Trial Services Can Reduce Incarceration w/David Bennett
Today, Hunter spoke with David Bennett, a veteran in the field of pretrial services. They discuss the evolution of pretrial services, the challenges of jail overcrowding, and the misconceptions surrounding pretrial programs. David shares insights on the importance of community support, risk assessment, and the need for effective alternatives to electronic monitoring. The conversation highlights the critical role of rehabilitation and support services in the criminal justice system, emphasizing the need for a paradigm shift in how we approach punishment and pretrial release. Guest: David Bennett, Retired Pre-Trial Services and Criminal Justice Consultant Resources: Read More Here https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/jail-capacity-planning-guide-systems-approach Contact Hunter Parnell: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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 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


