Today, I spoke w/ @jenniferdoleac.bsky.social, Executive VP of Criminal Justice @arnoldventures.bsky.social about her book, The Science of Second Chances. We discussed how we can improve public safety without relying on lengthy prison sentences and much more! open.spotify.com/episode/3kwA...

We won! Hundreds of thousands of people who are currently detained and separated from their families in lower-level cases will be released from jail every year. An incredible victory for liberty and public safety. You can read the historic decision here: civilrightscorps.org/wp-content/u...

An Atlanta suburb learned Flock was using livestreams from a children's gymnastics studio, a pool, and a playground in sales pitches to other cities. Residents are furious but the city renewed its contract with Flock anyway: www.404media.co/city-learns-...

New from 404 Media: CBP is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to expand its fleet of high-powered MQ-9 spy drones. But the documents also show another component of DHS may soon start its own fleet of Predator-style drones (CBP previously flew drones for ICE) www.404media.co/dhs-plans-to...

A great amicus brief by the Innocence Project and other experts about coerced confessions, arguing that evidence of police violence towards a suspect should be sufficient to grant leave for a successive postconviction petition. Check it out! datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Now out in the American Criminal Law Review: "Big Box Carceralism." I trace the legal history of the retailer-backed campaign for bans on "organized retail crime." Retailers lied and fearmongered about the data, pushed bills through ALEC, and all to get slightly more specific conspiracy statutes. 🧵

Today, I spoke w/Lucy Frick and Tim Smith of the Marion County Public Defender Office in Indianapolis, Indiana. For the past two years, these two worked tirelessly to unionize their office. Lucy and Tim joined to explain what drove them to form the union. open.spotify.com/episode/3329...

Last week, I spoke w/Dawn Deaner, the Executive Director of the Choosing Justice Initiative, and a candidate for Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Division III. We discussed how her experience as a Public Defender makes her an excellent candidate for the bench. open.spotify.com/episode/0IuV...

New at The Watch: I spoke with Dawn Deaner the latest longtime public defender to run for a judicial position, this time here in my hometown. radleybalko.substack.com/p/a-conversa...

Defenders: challenge inevitable discovery built on hindsight. State v. Steeprock (MN): State must prove lawful discovery was actually underway/inevitable based on historical facts—hypothetical warrant paths don’t cut it (and would gut the warrant requirement). law.justia.com/cases/minnes...

Durango, CO, prosecutors have charged an DHS agent with criminal assault and mischief for pushing a peaceful protestor to the ground and then stealing her phone. Say the prosecutors, it's an open-and-shut case and it's all on tape. www.denverpost.com/2026/04/21/b...

Pierre Constant spent 18+ months in jail for an attack he did not commit. Jurors acquitted Constant, in a case rife with police and DA delays and violations. Prosecutors took more than a year to give the defense exonerating DNA evidence. sfpublicdefender.org/2026/04/21/j...

Positive news alert! CA AB 2605 advances to Appropriations. The bill would require counties to report public defender caseload numbers, a significant step in tackling the state's caseload crisis. The Wren Collective full statement here: medium.com/@wrencollect...

A woman spent months in Maryland jails because of unchecked facial recognition technology, @conarck.bsky.social reports www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Prosecutor trying to introduce your client's substance use history? Take a look at the motion linked for arguments that this is inadmissible character evidence, violates FRE 403, and that SUD requires a diagnosis from a qualified medical professional: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Today, I spoke w/Jennifer Sellitti, the Public Defender for the state of New Jersey, to discuss how her office has successfully expanded holistic defender services around the state and how they are successfully integrating AI into their practice. open.spotify.com/episode/36hW...

Anat Rubin and I co-wrote a story for @calmatters.org about the people behind Sheriff Chad Bianco's "election investigation" -- sovereign citizens, Christian nationalists, and "constitutional sheriffs." calmatters.org/investigatio...

Impact snapshot: 89% of grads from the first PDTI class continue practicing indigent defense. That’s a pipeline. michigan.law.umich.edu/mdefenders

Flight records show that Los Angeles police dispatched drones 32 times over last month’s No Kings rally.

I decided to write about at each & every one of the 32 states with supreme court elections this year. Why? On abortion, redistricting, death penalty, & more, these institutions & their elections remain so critical. So here's everything you need to know. NEW from me:

Today, I spoke w/ Prof @terencekeel.bsky.social about his book Coroner's Silence. We discussed how coroners keep the truth of how people die in police custody hidden from the public and what can be done to change that system of silence. open.spotify.com/episode/5jdc...

If you're a policymaker relying on revenue from #criminaljustice fees, then you're a policymaker who's hoping that your constituents are victims of #crime. That's just one way fees are wildly inhumane, ineffective, and counterproductive to #publicsafety. Learn more: @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social👇🏽.

When courts impose fees to generate revenue, they perpetuate an infrastructure built on crime and fundamentally inhibit true public safety. Last week on @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social, FFJC’s National Advocacy and Campaigns Director Dylan Hayre discussed the inhumanity of court fee practices.

Bogus “Antifa” Designations & FBI Warrantless Access to Americans’ Communications: Any expert of national security surveillance law following the government’s escalating actions on 'antifa' can connect the dots to FISA electronic surveillance and other counterterrorism and intelligence authorities.

A toddler nearly died at an ICE detention facility in Dilley, Texas. After more than a week in intensive care, she was sent back. Sarah Stillman reports. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Today, I spoke w/Maureen Halon and Anita Tabb, whose child, M, is a member of a class action lawsuit against Missouri's Department of Mental Health. On average, people found in competent to stand trial are waiting 14 months in custody before getting treatment. open.spotify.com/episode/0u3n...

Great deep dive into drones in Philadelphia. www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

Today, I spoke w/Dylan Hayre and Emily King of @finesandfeesjc.bsky.social. We discussed the incredible work they are doing in states like AZ, ND, and OK to eliminate the court fines and fees that keep people trapped in debt for a lifetime. open.spotify.com/episode/5rHb...

This week, FFJC’s National Advocacy and Campaigns Director Dylan Hayre and Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Strategist Emily King joined @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social, where they shared their experiences advocating for fine and fee reform across the country.

I tend to agree w people who say innocence cases are the low-hanging fruit of carceral reform, but it's remarkable - & deeply symptomatic - how far Louisiana officials will go to deny that these clear miscarriages of justice occur & even retaliate against their victims apnews.com/article/new-...

Filing a motion to exclude evidence of prior convictions? Use this pleading as a model to guide your analysis and prevent prejudicial evidence from being admitted against your client! datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

New from me: The latest in my "You can't hide your lying ICE" series. radleybalko.substack.com/p/you-cant-h...

Today, I spoke w/Lilah Thompson and Maria Thomson of the Defenders Association of Philadelphia about how their office is resisting Trump's mass deportation agenda. open.spotify.com/episode/6b64...

Footage from the Jan. 14 ICE shooting in Minneapolis show a scuffle between an ICE agent and two Venezuelan men lasting less than 12 seconds, contradicting the agent's account. Prosecutors watched the footage 3 weeks after charging the men for assaulting the agent and then dropped all charges.

"To have your child abused while in the government's care, to not understand what has happened or how to protect them, to not even be told about the abuse, it is unimaginable," said an attorney representing the girl. https://to.pbs.org/3PV4hr9

Remember when DHS agents had no choice but to shoot two Venezuelan men because the men had attacked them with a snow shovel and a broomstick? New video shows they were lying about that one, too. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/u...

New: Florida's wildlife police are giving ICE access to Flock from thousands of cameras around the country & performed dozens of lookups for immigration enforcement per month. Shows ICE is still accessing and also shows that access often comes from unexpected places: www.404media.co/floridas-wil...

Today, I spoke with Amanda Carrasco. Amanda is an author, a survivor, and an incredible champion for restorative justice practices. She joined the show to explain the power restorative justice has to reshape the meaning of public safety and accountability. open.spotify.com/episode/5MtV...

“Your Data Will Be Used Against You” on @nbcnews.com with Gadi Schwartz tonight.

Yet another pro-prison bill that even prosecutors and jailer cannot support because of the strain and costs to courts and jails. The new "3 strikes" proposal in Iowa is a 20-year man min based on "points." www.thegazette.com/news/crime-a...

THREAD. An important report was just released, putting another nail in the coffin of Obama-era "police reform" copaganda. After a study of 13 years of "police reform" in Puerto Rico, police violence *got worse.* The "reform" itself has a budget of $20 million per year.

The San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association spent $30K to promote the lie that a “deputy sheriff saved Ward 86 from a rapid mass casualty stabbing.” That was a total fabrication. It was public health workers who stopped the assailant while the sheriff watched. missionlocal.org/2026/03/sher...

Advocacy + sustainability. Michigan Law’s Public Defender Training Institute explicitly builds skills to avoid burnout and sustain yourself in a public defense career. michigan.law.umich.edu/mdefenders

New from me: The first post of a series documenting the brazen lies DHS has told after abuse and violence by ICE and Bordrer Patrol officers. First up: The bumbling, illegal raid on ChongLy Scott Thao and his family.

By refusing Oudone Lothirath permission to receiveve four out of five chemotherapy appointments while in ICE detention, ICE has given him what is essentially a death sentence. He will die from cancer imminently, just another ICE death in detention. www.startribune.com/how-ice-deta...

Turns out that when every Somali case I have in court suddenly got expedited and reassigned to a new judge, it wasn't just me! The DOJ has officially denied that there is an expedited "Somali Docket," but now the public data refutes their denial. Here are the highlights: 🧵 bklg.org/blog/somali-...

Today, I spoke w/Matt Sanders, Director of King County's Department of Public Defense. Despite being one of the wealthier states in the US, Washington provides some of the lowest funding for Public Defense. If they dont change that soon, the system could collapse. open.spotify.com/episode/3ONQ...

Today, I spoke w/Anat Rubin, an investigative journalist with @calmatters.org. We discussed her reporting on "The Wal Mart of Public Defense" to understand how Public Defense is sold to the lowest bidder in rural California. open.spotify.com/episode/6cSx... Article: calmatters.org/investigatio...

1. Louisiana prosecutor Hugo Holland has had a career mired in controversy: concealed evidence, alleged racism, false paperwork. He once compared a mentally disabled Black teen to a dog during a death penalty case and told the jury to “get rid of it.” 🧵 from @veritenews.org @propublica.org