All Blogs

150: To Fix Detroit Public Defense, There Must be a Fair Contract for the Neighborhood Defender Services of Detroit w Cait De Mott Grady, Tom Molina-Duarte, Jonathan Roberts

In back-to-back years, the Sixth Amendment Center revealed that Public Defense in Detroit was failing. Both the contract and institutional Public Defender were failing to provide competent counsel in every case. For the largest city in Michigan, the future seemed […]

149: It’s Time to Abolish the Legalized Theft that is Civil Forfeiture w Dan Alban

Sometimes referred to as Civil Asset Forfeiture, today’s episode is an examination of the legalized theft that is civil forfeiture. Joining Hunter to unpack the intricacies of this topic, is Dan Alban. In his role at the Institute for Justice, […]

148: Jury Nullification, Conscientious Acquittal, and the Fight To Regain Jury Independence w Clark Neily

Whether you call it Jury Nullification or Conscientious Acquittal, today’s episode is all about the fight to reinvigorate the jury trial and the independence of the jury. Joining Hunter to discuss is Clark Neily, Senior VP for Legal Studies at […]

Ciminelli v. U.S. and Percoco v. U.S.: Supreme Court limits federal wire fraud prosecutions

Ciminelli v. U.S. and Percoco v. U.S.:  Supreme Court limits federal wire fraud prosecutions    By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender              The U.S. Supreme Court recently limited the scope of federal wire fraud […]

Calling all Students! 1000 Strong Virtual Women’s Conference Ticket Scholarship Opportunity!

NAPD is offering ticket scholarships to the NAPD Virtual Women's Conference (We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For) to 1,000 social work, law, or public policy students! The scholarship application is here and more information is below. Please feel free to pass on to interns in […]

147: Because of its Systemic Indifference to Suffering, Oklahoma Keeps Punishing Domestic Violence Survivors w Colleen McCarty and Leslie Briggs

A little less than a year ago, Hunter spoke with Alexandra Bailey of the Sentencing Project to explore why states like Oklahoma so readily punish the survivors of domestic violence. Today, Hunter returns to Oklahoma to speak with Colleen McCarty […]

The Fulton County Jail, Cop City, and the Deafening Silence of the Georgia Public Defense Council w Devin Franklin

In the state of Georgia, the Public Defender Council lacks independence from the Executive Branch. As a result, their ability to speak out on social issues is severely limited. For former Georgia Public Defender Devin Franklin, the inability to speak […]

The Never Ending Torture of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri w Annie Morgan

Today, Hunter is joined by Annie Morgan, a Criminal Defense Appeals Attorney with the Guantanamo Bay Military Commission Defense Organization, to continue to the story of Guantanamo Bay where John Baker left off. Once John had the defenders responsible for […]

What Lead to the Unionization of Maryland Public Defense w Edie Fortuna and Jose Teneza

Crushing workloads. High Turnover Rates. Low Pay. This is not the first time these topics have been brought up on the show, but today, Hunter spoke with two Maryland Public Defenders, Edie Fortuna and Jose Teneza, to discuss how those […]

144: The Campaign to Close Rikers Island w Richard Willstatter and Stan German

Today, Hunter spoke with two New York Criminal Defense Attorneys, Richard Willstatter and Stan Germán, to discuss the crisis at Rikers Island. For more than a decade, there has been a class action lawsuit against the city because of the […]