Monthly Archives: May 2018

Putting the Public in Public Defending: Standing Up for a Profession in Crisis



Nashville’s top public defender Dawn Deaner explains why she thinks public defending has been “set up to fail” and how working to engage the community—both those who need public defenders and those who never will—is a lifeline for a profession in crisis.

Full show notes (includes pictures and episode transcript)


Prosecutor Power #2: A Public Defender on the Urgency of Reform



As part of our series on prosecutor power, Scott Hechinger of Brooklyn Defender Services offers a view from the other side of the adversarial process, discussing prosecutors’ impact at key decision-points in his clients’ cases and weighing the prospects for reform in a time of increasing scrutiny of prosecutorial discretion. (Episode chosen as ‘Best of 2018‘ by the Vera Institute of Justice.)

Full show notes (includes pictures, resources, and episode transcript)