Hunter Parnell ’26 always knew he wanted a career that involved working in the legal system. Growing up, he witnessed firsthand how the criminal justice system treated people as cases to be dealt with quickly instead of as human beings with unique needs. His passion and interest in our justice system was furthered as Parnell earned his degree in legal studies at the United States Air Force Academy.
After the killing of George Floyd, however, Parnell was certain he wanted to help improve our justice system in some fashion, but he did not know where to start. 
“I researched every state’s public defense system and wrote a 550-page book,” Parnell shared.
While the book didn’t get published, the project allowed Parnell to engage with several individuals doing public defense work. This research and writing process demonstrated to him even more fully that reforming public defense work is an instrumental part of addressing so many problems in the legal system. With that inspiration at the helm, the Public Defenseless podcast was born.
“I want to educate regular people on the legal system,” Parnell shares of the podcast’s goal. “They know something is wrong [with the legal system], but they don’t know exactly what and why. I also want it [the podcast] to be a place where criminal defense practitioners, researchers, academics, and people working on criminal legal policy can learn from the success and failures of people around the country.”
Featuring guests from across the U.S., the podcast provides listeners with the knowledge and resources they need to help shape the future of Public Defense reform.
“The legal system is broken from the moment people get arrested to the very end, and at the core of this is a failure to get people the right to counsel and the right to a jury trial. All of that is a much bigger picture, and the people who can elucidate that picture are public defenders, people who work on policy, and people who every single day see the way that all the laws we talk about in isolation work in practice.”
In summary, “Public Defenseless” aims to give people a more systemic view of the criminal legal system, while also highlighting the difference between the theory of law versus how the law plays out in practice.
Since the release of the first episode in December 2021, the podcast has amassed roughly 2,500 subscribers and nearly 9,000 monthly downloads. With over 230 episodes, it is currently ranked 26th on the GoodPods Top Law podcasts, and has been a top 100 Government Podcast on Apple Podcast in 10 different countries. “Public Defenseless” is also regularly featured by the National Association of Public Defense and in weekly news roundups by the American Bar Association’s Public Defense section.
One of the most popular episodes features two attorneys from the defense team of Nikolas Cruz (2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting)--Casey Secor and Kate O’Shea of Suzerain Capital Defense. Throughout the course of the two-hour episode, the guests explain the ways in which Cruz was repeatedly failed by numerous social, educational, and health care systems from birth until the day he committed the shooting.
“That case is powerful because Cruz committed a horrific crime, but they were able to convince three out of twelve jurors that he should get life over death,” Parnell said. “When you only read about these cases you don't get the full picture of what those jurors heard, and speaking with those two was a really powerful reminder of what we aren’t necessarily taught in law school about how the death penalty works.”
Speaking of law school, Parnell explained how working on the podcast has influenced the way he approaches his legal education.
“Speaking with people from these jurisdictions across the country has informed the way I approach law school, rather than the reverse,” Parnell explained. “I have had a lot of law professors on [the podcast], and we talk about what legal academia can do to better prepare students for how things [in the legal system] actually work.”
Parnell’s work on the podcast has affirmed his desire to become a Public Defender once he graduates.
“I will do representation as long as I can,” Parnell shared. “I can also envision myself at some point doing policy work.”
The Colorado Law community looks forward to the way Parnell’s podcast will continue to serve as a resource for the legal— and public defense—community. Listen to “Public Defenseless” wherever you get your podcasts, and follow the show on Twitter and Instagram.