Clark County gets about 100,000 domestic violence calls a year. Only 30,000 end in an arrest. Liz Ortenburger, CEO of SafeNest, tells Hunter why the other 70,000 might be where real prevention starts. New episode tomorrow: linktr.ee/hwparnell17
Public Defenseless Podcast
@pdefenselesspod.bsky.social
Podcast covering issues in Public Defense, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, and what we can do to improve our criminal legal system New episodes drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Find episodes at https://linktr.ee/hwparnell17
New: Police in Wisconsin used Flock to create a pretext to search a man's car for weed. Their justification? He drove from Wisconsin to Michigan, a “known source state for marijuana as it is legal there,” and Flock showed he "travels to Michigan frequently." www.404media.co/cops-used-fl...
Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed
"The vehicle travels to Michigan frequently which is a known source state for marijuana as it is legal there," a probable cause justification reads.
404media.co
NDS Union public defenders in Detroit, Texas and Harlem struck for 7 days. On August 4 they won a contract. This conversation was recorded while they were still on the line. open.spotify.com/episode/3zUt...
New: police are being explicitly told to hide the fact they're using Flock to pull people over and arrest them. Basically, do not mention this in official police reports. If the tech is completely legal and acceptable, like law enforcement say, why hide it? www.404media.co/do-not-menti...
‘DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE’: How Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of Flock
“DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT."
404media.co
My now former office is still on strike in NYC, Detroit, and Texas
New: we've obtained the guide Flock makes for police to try to convince cities to buy Flock cameras, even when there is widespread opposition to it. Encourages police to "own the narrative before someone else does," need to have a "carefully scripted presentation" www.404media.co/own-the-narr...
‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech
"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of co...
404media.co
A man defended himself against a murder charge from a jail cell for a year. Then Idaho's statewide public defender office took the case, put an investigator on it, and the jury acquitted in ~4 hours. New ep, Eric Fredericksen & Doug Nelson. open.spotify.com/episode/08Dx...
I'm begging people to realize that since Irish & Germans immigrants in 1840s, there has always been attempts to say the current wave of recent immigrants are unassimilable and prone to crime--and fighting petty crime necessitates deportations and immigration restrictions. I wrote a book about it:
Police and the Empire City: Race and the Origins of Modern Policing in New York
dukeupress.edu
Idaho arrested a man 7 years after his wife was killed, then held him 4.5 years pre-trial. The new statewide public defender system took the case, put real investigators on it, and the jury acquitted in ~4 hours. New ep tomorrow w/ Eric Fredericksen & Doug Nelson. linktr.ee/hwparnell17
We’re losing our chance to prevent armed drones on our streets and in our schools.
Lawmakers Must Act Now to Prevent Armed Police Drones
This is not science fiction. It’s not premature. If towns, cities, states, or the federal government want to act to rein in the emergence of armed police drones and robots, we have precious little tim...
eff.org
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · last wk.Schools are adding pepper-spraying drones to help combat active shooters The plastic, non-lethal aircraft, which can smash windows and ram attackers will be at the ready at certain schools in Colorado, Florida and Georgia www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...
"It's the story behind the curriculum." Sammy Provencio spent 30+ years in prison. Now he helps run The Hub, the Stanislaus County Public Defender's reentry center. New episode, with Jennifer Jennison: open.spotify.com/episode/4RTb...
It is bad news when a perfectly reasonable, well-established pretrial diversion program is being cut by "moderate Democrats," the same people who are all "we cannot abolish ICE" www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
A fight over a San Francisco nonprofit tests how far Democrats will move on crime
The fate of SF Pretrial, a group that runs diversion programs, reflects the tough-on-crime sentiment emerging even in liberal cities.
washingtonpost.com
When some alternate to conventional policing works or gets accepted, it’s a local story. When there’s a pushback against reform, it’s a National Referendum on Reform. Every. Damn. Time.
A fight over a San Francisco nonprofit tests how far Democrats will move on crime
The fate of SF Pretrial, a group that runs diversion programs, reflects the tough-on-crime sentiment emerging even in liberal cities.
washingtonpost.com
In Chatrie v. United States, the Supreme Court confirmed the Fourth Amendment is relevant to the digital age. I think it offers a reimagining that impacts all sorts of digital surveillance beyond geofence warrants. Here is an essay on what it means for the future. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Digital Policing after <i>Chatrie</i>
<p><i><span>Chatrie v. United States</span></i><span> is a consequential Fourth Amendment opinion, and for Supreme Court watchers a surprising one in its scope
papers.ssrn.com
Sammy Provencio spent 30+ years in prison. Now he helps run the Stanislaus County Public Defender office, where Jennifer Jennison built The Hub. New episode tomorrow with Sammy and Jennifer on what lived experience changes. linktr.ee/hwparnell17
Proud to join the picket line for the Public Defenders Union. Fair contract now!
Since 2021, Public Defenseless has been asking: how bad is it? 500 episodes later, Ep. 500 puts a number on it. $28 billion, 4x what we spend, per Ben Polk of NYU Law. Seven moments, one conclusion. Listen: open.spotify.com/episode/0URL...
🚨 NEW EPISODE🚨 Professor Terence Keel, author of The Coroner's Silence (2025), joins Ahmed to talk about how death records have been used to create ambiguity surrounding the deaths of those who die in police custody. 🎙️ Links in bio 📼 #NolansWells #RacialJustice #GeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter
First ban on reverse keyword searches. “No matter your political views, too much government surveillance affects everyone — especially today, when almost everyone has to use digital devices.” www.aclu-de.org/press-releas...
Delaware Passes Legislation to Restrict the Use of Reverse Keyword Warrants - ACLU of Delaware
HS 1 for HB 145 is the first near ban on reverse keyword warrants in the United States.
aclu-de.org
Such a pleasure to join @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social & talk about my article: "Waiting for Justice: Unconstitutional Delays in the Appointment of Criminal Defense Counsel." Defense attorneys in places with appointment delays can read more about what they can do here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Waiting for Justice: Unconstitutional Delays in the Appointment of Criminal Defense Counsel
<p><span>The Constitution guarantees a right to counsel in criminal cases, but indigent criminal defendants are commonly left to languish in jail without legal
papers.ssrn.com
Public Defenseless Podcast@pdefenselesspod.bsky.social · 2w agoSome states pause the case until a public defender is available. Professor Eve Brensike Primus: you cannot pause the one stage that decides the case. Video gets erased. Witnesses vanish. Ep. 499 is live. open.spotify.com/episode/4I3R...
"Public defense is only receiving a quarter of the funding it needs to meet minimum constitutional standards." Ben Polk spent years arriving at that number. Episode 500 is out now. open.spotify.com/episode/5X6w...
A fair, dignified defense is the right of every New Yorker, not just those who can afford it. Congratulations to The Brooklyn Defender Services Union for reaching a tentative agreement and thank you to the public defenders who serve New Yorkers every day.
Brooklyn Defender Services ends strike with tentative agreement | amNewYork
The Brooklyn Defender Services Union reached a contract agreement that it said includes a set of economic and workplace gains including a higher wage floor,
amny.com
New from 404 Media: a leaked document shows the surveillance tech at ICE's fingerprints. We obtained the document, called "ICE Wide Analytical Tools" and are publishing it in full here. It includes everything from phone location data, to facial rec, to tracking cars www.404media.co/leaked-docum...
Leaked Document Shows the Surveillance Tech at ICE’s Fingertips
From phone location data, to social media monitoring, to online undercover tools, a document obtained by 404 Media lays out the surveillance tech available across ICE agency wide.
404media.co
Everyone says public defense is underfunded. Nobody could say by how much. Ben Polk spent years working it out: $28 billion a year for the bare constitutional minimum. We spend a quarter of that, and his is the conservative estimate. New episode tomorrow. linktr.ee/hwparnell17
Some states pause the case until a public defender is available. Professor Eve Brensike Primus: you cannot pause the one stage that decides the case. Video gets erased. Witnesses vanish. Ep. 499 is live. open.spotify.com/episode/4I3R...
Some states pause the case until a public defender is available. Three months. Six months. Prof. Eve Brensike Primus argues you cannot pause the one stage that decides the case: investigation. Video gets overwritten. Witnesses move. New episode tomorrow. linktr.ee/hwparnell17
“We have seen how consequence-free it can be for officers to deploy force at somebody who’s standing in front…” Guariglia said. “That would become so much easier and so much less emotionally and physically burdensome if they can deploy force by pressing a button.” @404media.co @mjgault.bsky.social
New Orleans Cops Published Policy Document Allowing Weaponized Drones
Cops and drone companies seem increasingly eager to put weapons on their drones.
404media.co
Last fall, I learned Flock was rolling out a feature that leverage gunshot-detecting microphones to search for human screams. We publicly asked---how is this legal? And a few months later, that product is now dead.
Electronic Frontier Foundation@eff.org · 3w agoFor months EFF has been ringing the alarm about a new Flock Safety feature that would summon the police after publicly-placed microphones picked up sounds of “human distress.” We are happy to report that the feature has been discontinued.
New episode is live. Alena Chulick's team at the Allegheny County Public Defender clears the tickets, fines, and warrants that trap people trying to get into recovery. Over $200k put back in people's pockets, not the courts'. Full episode: open.spotify.com/episode/3nbh...
Tom Homan was the "moderate professional" compared to Bovino. Let this be a reminder, the "moderate professional" cop, is still, at their core, a cop who believes everything they do is legitimate and everything you do to oppose them is worthy of violent punishment.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w agoTom Homan: "It all go backs to the Dems ... there's still gonna be more bloodshed unless they shut their mouth and let ICE enforce the laws that they enacted."