Public Defenseless

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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 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: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com

Last week, Hunter spoke with LA County Chief Public Defender Ricardo Garcia to discuss the state of Public Defense in LA. Today, Hunter sat down with two Public Defenders, Garret Miller and Brooke Languevan, to get the LA Public Defenders Union perspective on the same question. While the two sides may not always agree on the best way to address the issues plaguing the offices, they both recognize the pressing need for more people, more funding, and a dramatic reimagining of the role Public Defense can and should play in community engagement. After listening to both episodes, what do you think is the best solution to cure the many ills of LA County Public Defense? Guest: Garret Miller, Public Defender, Los Angeles County, California Brooke Longuevan, Public Defender, Los Angeles County, California Resources: Follow LA Public Defender Union on Twitter https://twitter.com/LApubdefunion?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Follow the LA Public Defender Union on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lapubdefunion/?hl=en LA Public Defender Union Website https://local148.org/ Justice LA https://justicelanow.org/ ACLU Socal https://www.aclusocal.org/ L.A. County shifts lawyer program for the poor from Bar Assn. to already busy public defender https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-09/la-me-la-county-shifts-attorney-program-to-public-defender Contact Hunter Parnell: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com

In theory, the criminal legal system is designed to find the truth of a matter. In reality, the legal system has been sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally constructed to be as efficient as possible while maintaining its institutional integrity. From plea deals to Executive Clemency, the legal system is often cruelly efficient at convicting the innocent and keeping the innocent looked in prison for decades. Why is that? Today, Hunter sat down with Professor of Law, Daniel Medwed, to discuss his book Barred: Why the Innocent Can't Get Out of Prison to answer that question. At every step of the legal system, there are policies, procedures, and legal doctrines that work in concert to keep the innocent locked up as long as possible. Join us for a fascinating and frustrating examination of the legal machine that is so regularly disinterested in finding the truth and freeing the innocent. Guest: Daniel Medwed, Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law Resources: Buy Barred https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/daniel-s-medwed/barred/9781541675902/ Follow Daniel Medwed on Twitter https://twitter.com/danielmedwed?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Arizona v Youngblood https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/488/51/ West Virginia Law Review Article on Arizona v Youngblood The Youngblood Success Stories: Overcoming the "Bad Faith" Destruction of Evidence Standard (wvu.edu) Contact Hunter Parnell: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com