Public Defenseless

Today, Hunter was joined by Colin Charbonneau and Victoria Blumhorst, two Public Defender leaders from Spokane, Washington. They joined the show to explain why they decided to sue their county over the workload standards the county recently imposed.
 
Guest:
Colin Charbonneau, Director, Spokane County Public Defenders, Washington
Victoria Blumhorst, Director, Counsel for Defense, Spokane, Washington
 
Resource:
Read the Complaint Here
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1j9QTRxm6VXpiZQTmvdkgY9HHwgauBt_L?usp=drive_link
 
Read more about the story here
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/11/public-defenders-sue-spokane-county-over-work-stan/
https://www.kxly.com/news/public-defenders-sue-spokane-county-over-excessive-caseloads/article_fc46807b-d0f0-4171-9533-0c5acdf2a59f.html
https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-county-public-defenders-challenge-their-caseloads-in-court-and-at-the-bargaining-table/article_e883ca3a-4f51-4373-959c-2684f35ccf31.html
https://www.spokanecounty.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/6067
https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-county-sued-public-defender-caseload-limits/293-568f4e4c-a03c-4671-a74f-d3c0fcf081ec
https://www.spokanecounty.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/6049
Contact Colin and Victoria Here
CHARBONNEAU@spokanecounty.gov
vblumhorst@spokanecounty.gov
 
Contact Hunter Parnell:     
Publicdefenseless@gmail.com 
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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 once again by Shannon Wilson and Stacey Lowe. The last time these two Public Defender Leaders in Oregon were on the show, they discussed why they were suing the Oregon Public Defense Commission. Today, they join to discuss their victory in court and what it means for Public Defense in Oregon.
 
  *** Note for the show: After recording, editing and publishing the show, Carl McPherson, the Executive Director of The Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland, responded to my request for comment with the following statement: "Regarding the current contract, our office is already using an internal workload model and believe we have ethical caseloads.  So, the lawsuit is not impacting our current practice.  The lawsuit will impact negotiations for our next contract (and terms) that will begin on July 1, 2027." Please keep that in mind when you listen to the episode! 
 
Guest:
Shannon Wilson, Executive Director, Public Defender of Marion County Inc., Oregon
Stacey Lowe, Executive Director, South West Oregon Public Defender Services, Oregon
 
Resource:
Check out the Trial Transcript Here
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LoISTUXKRJ8lO9W7uogBRW9l3bf_1UR9?usp=drive_link
Contact Stacey and Shannon Here
https://swopds.org/
https://www.pdmarion.org/
 
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
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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!
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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 Nia Holston from the Abolitionist Law Center and Sean Damon of Straight-Ahead to discuss a case out of Pennsylvania. In Commonwealth v. Lee, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court  struck down mandatory life without the possibility of parole for felony murder convictions because those sentences violated the states prohibition on cruel punishments.
 
 
Guest:
Nia Holston, Staff Attorney, Abolitionist Law Center
Sean Damon, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Straight-Ahead
 
Resource:
Read the Case Here
https://statecourtreport.org/case-tracker/commonwealth-v-lee
Contact ALC and Straight-Ahead
https://abolitionistlawcenter.org/person/nia-holston/
sean@straight-ahead.org
 
 
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
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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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**** 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 Professor Deborah Lolai to discuss her law review article, Out of the Closet, in on Bail. In the article, Deborah details the systemic issues within the bail system, especially as they relate to LGBTQ+ individuals. She explores how pretrial detention disproportionately impacts queer and trans people and how Public Defenders can help get their clients the individualized considerations they deserve.
 
Guest:
Deborah Lolai, Clinical Professor and Lecturer, Harvard Law  
 
Resource:
Read the Paper Here
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5172965
 
Contact Deborah Here
https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/deborah-lolai/
 
 
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
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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
**** 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 Salil Dudani and Carson White from the Civil Rights Corps. Since they were founded, the Civil Rights Corps has been one of the leaders in the fight to end cash bail. Today, Carson and Salil joined to explain the recent California Supreme Court Case, In re Gerald Kowalczyk, and what it means for the fight against cash bail.  
 
 
Guest:
Carson White, Supervising Attorney, Civil Rights Corps
Salil Dudani, Senior Attorney, Civil Rights Corps
 
Resource:
More from Civil Rights Corps Here
https://civilrightscorps.org/case/kowalczyk-california-bail-pretrial-detention/
 
Read the Case Here
https://courts.ca.gov/opinion/published/2026-04-30/s277910
 
 
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
**** ALL OPINONS SHARED BY HOST HUNTER PARNELL DO NOT REFLECT THE THOUGHTS OR OPINIONS OF THE AURORA MUNICIPAL PUBLIC DEFENDER****