In Texas you don’t need a lawyer if it’s a misdemeanor.
You Have the Right to an Attorney. But in Texas, Don’t Count on It. In some parts of the state, misdemeanor defendants routinely face charges without representation. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/us/texas-criminal-defense-attorney.html
Sometimes to Fix a Public Defender System, You have to be Willing to Let it Fail w/James McDermott and Paul Chambers
Today, Hunter is once again joined by James McDermott and Paul Chambers from the Far West Texas Regional Public Defender Office. This time, James and Paul are discussing how they utilized the new National Workload study to double their attorney staff. While the use of data was extremely important into winning over county commissioners, James’ […]
Death by Design: The Death Penalty in Harris County, Texas w/Jessica Brand
Today, Hunter sat down with Jessica Brand, the found of the Wren Collective, to discuss their recent report about the death penalty in Harris County, Texas. For decades, Harris County used the death penalty more than anywhere in the world, but unlike many places, it did not use full time public defenders for these cases. […]
How Public Defenders Can and Have Beaten Mass Immigration Prosecutions w/Eric Fish
In a follow up to our episode on Operation Lone Star, Hunter is joined by UC Davis Law Professor Eric Fish to discuss his recent law review article, “Resisting Mass Immigration Prosecutions.” On our previous OLS episode, we discussed the many ways the state of Texas has stacked the deck in its favor, making it […]
202: Using the Carrot and the Stick to Improve Texas Public Defense w/Geoff Burkhart
Today, Hunter is continuing his coverage of public defense in Texas by speaking with former Executive Director of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission and current Executive Director of the Texas Fair Defense Project, Geoff Burkhart. Under his leadership, there was a massive expansion of institutional public defender offices around Texas, but it happened in an […]
With Defense Attorneys Like These, Who Needs Prosecutors?
With Defense Attorneys Like These, Who Needs Prosecutors? Bayou City, Space City, H-Town—Houston’s collected some snappy monikers. But there’s one nickname the city is trying to shake: death penalty capital of the world. Unfortunately, Houston’s reputation is deserved. Most of America no longer executes people. But in places that still do, facing a capital case […]