Public Defenseless

Today, Hunter was joined by Kyle Giddings and Rebecca Wallace to discuss how tough on crime types shape Colorado criminal justice policy. From the outside looking in, one could be forgiven for thinking that Colorado is one of the most progressive states in the country. After all, it was one of the few places in America that broke towards the left in the 2024 election. Despite the complete control of the government by the Democratic party, Colorado still pursues tough on crime policies. Today, Hunter and guests try and explain how that happens.  
 
 
Guest:
Kyle Giddings, Deputy Director, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition
Rebecca Wallace, Policy Director, Colorado Freedom Fund
 
Resources:
CFF Website and Policy Pages
https://www.coloradofreedomfund.org/denver-muni-reform-toolkit
https://www.coloradofreedomfund.org/2026-legislation
 
CCJRC Website
https://www.ccjrc.org/
 
** Correction. During the episode, Hunter stated that the report by Dustin Zvonek was shared in the Denver Post. It was actually shared via Denver 7 ABC. The article is linked below**
 
ABC 7 Reporting on Housing First
https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/colorado-ranks-among-top-10-states-for-homelessness-driven-by-drugs-not-housing-costs
 
Sign up for the ABA Public Defender Summit
https://events.americanbar.org/event/12d07164-1011-4723-9352-e8e3168db945/welcome
 
 
Contact Hunter Parnell:                                
[email protected] 
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@PublicDefenselessPodcast
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www.publicdefenseless.com 
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**** ALL OPINONS SHARED BY HOST HUNTER PARNELL DO NOT REFLECT THE THOUGHTS OR OPINIONS OF THE AURORA MUNICIPAL PUBLIC DEFENDER****

Today, Hunter was joined by René Ropac of the Data Collaborative for Justice to discuss their newest report on the impacts, or lack thereof, of New York's bail reforms.
 
 
Guest:
René Ropac, Senior Research Associate, Data Collaborative for Justice
 
Resources:
Read the Report
https://datacollaborativeforjustice.org/work/bail-reform/examining-the-impact-of-eliminating-bail-on-recidivism-in-the-new-york-city-suburbs-and-upstate-regions-a-difference-in-differences-study/
Contact Rene
https://datacollaborativeforjustice.org/staff/rene-ropac/
 
Learn More about DCJ
https://datacollaborativeforjustice.org/
 
 
Sign up for the ABA Public Defender Summit
https://events.americanbar.org/event/12d07164-1011-4723-9352-e8e3168db945/welcome
 
 
Contact Hunter Parnell:                                
[email protected] 
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@PublicDefenselessPodcast
Twitter                                                                
@PDefenselessPod
www.publicdefenseless.com 
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www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast
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Today, Hunter was joined by three people, Maggie Bott, Brandon Garcia, and Bob Kolstad, who have lived through the federal occupation of Minneapolis. They join the show to detail what ICE, CBP, and DHS have been doing in the city and how the city has organized and resisted those efforts.
 
Guest:
Brandon Garcia, Policy Aide to City Council President Elliot Page, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Maggie Bott, Public Defender, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Bob Kolstad, Public Defender, Hennepin County, Minnesota
 
Resources:
Mutual Aid to Minnesota
https://www.standwithminnesota.com/
https://defend612.com/
 
 
Sign up for the ABA Public Defender Summit
https://events.americanbar.org/event/12d07164-1011-4723-9352-e8e3168db945/welcome
 
 
Contact Hunter Parnell:                                
[email protected] 
Instagram
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
Twitter                                                                
@PDefenselessPod
www.publicdefenseless.com 
Subscribe to the Patreon
www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast
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https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ
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Trying to find a specific part of an episode? Use this link to search transcripts of every episode of the show!
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Today, Hunter spoke with Matthew Guariglia, a historian, scholar, and author of the book Police and the Empire City: Race and the Origins of Modern Policing in New York. In it, Matthew walks the read through the early history of the New York Police Department. By learning this history, the hope is that people understand what some of the essential characteristics of American policing are. Hopefully by understanding the essential characteristics, people can fully understand how and why police operate they way they do.   
 
Guest:
Matthew Guariglia, Historian, Scholar, Author, Police and the Empire City: Race and the Origins of Modern Policing in New York
Resources:
Contact and Read more from Matthew Here
https://www.matthewguariglia.com/
https://bsky.app/profile/mguariglia.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/mguarig/
https://www.eff.org/about/staff/dr-matthew-guariglia-0
Pick up a Copy of the Book Here
https://www.dukeupress.edu/police-and-the-empire-city
 
 
Sign up for the ABA Public Defender Summit
https://events.americanbar.org/event/12d07164-1011-4723-9352-e8e3168db945/welcome
 
 
Contact Hunter Parnell:                                
[email protected] 
Instagram
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
Twitter                                                                
@PDefenselessPod
www.publicdefenseless.com 
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www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast
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Trying to find a specific part of an episode? Use this link to search transcripts of every episode of the show!
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Today, Hunter spoke w/Stacey Lowe, Executive Director of the Southwest Oregon Public Defender Services. They discussed why Stacey joined Shannon Wilson's lawsuit challenging the new contract conditions put in place by the Oregon Public Defense Commission.  
 
Guest:
Stacey Lowe, Executive Director, Southwest Oregon Public Defender Services
 
Resources:
SWOPDS
https://swopds.org/
 
Contact Stacey
 [email protected]
 
Read More About the Suit
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/oregon/2025/11/15/court-opdc-marion-county-public-defenders-contract/87279929007/
https://www.pdmarion.org/information-for-the-media
https://kobi5.com/news/top-stories/southern-oregon-public-defense-success-clouded-by-quota-lawsuit-288302/
 
OPDC Response
"We are unable to comment on pending litigation, but for questions about workload standards, I refer you to pages 20-22 (pages 26-28 in the search) of our recent status report. The section on long-term planning describes our goal of transitioning to a workload model.  
 
For questions about contracts, I encourage you to visit our website, where you can find the following information:  
  
Contracts for 2025-2027
Contracts for 2023-2025
A timeline of the contracting process, which included soliciting contractors' feedback on draft contracts through online feedback forms. We also held informational sessions for contractors.
Our responses to questions that public defense providers asked while reviewing drafts of the contracts.
Maximum attorney caseloads (MAC) – Click on Contracts 2023-2025 and scroll down to "What are the Maximum Attorney Caseloads under the 2023-25 contracts?" 
 
OPDC's contracts are based on maximum attorney caseloads. The MAC standards in the 2025-2027 contracts are identical to those that were in the 2023-2025 contracts. The MAC standards can be found in Exhibit B of the 2025-2027 contracts. They are listed on page 19 under the section titled Rolling Annual Caseload Limits. They are listed on page B-1 under Annual Caseload Limits in the 2023- 2025 contracts." 
 
 
Sign up for the ABA Public Defender Summit
https://events.americanbar.org/event/12d07164-1011-4723-9352-e8e3168db945/welcome
 
 
Contact Hunter Parnell:                                
[email protected] 
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