Deep Background

Kansas City Star reporter Katie Moore and editorial board member Dave Helling traveled more than 1,000 miles across the state to tell the stories of poor defendants' rights being trampled by Missouri's justice system. On this week's podcast, we look at their project which found Missouri's underfunded public defender system fails to uphold peoples' constitutional rights. Read the series: Defenseless: Missouri justice system violates the Constitution every day - https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/article237130749.html Before their day in court, poor people charged with crimes can spend years in jail - https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article237036709.html With overloaded Missouri public defenders, you only get a ‘sliver of an attorney’ - https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article237036919.html Missouri judge says: Represent yourself in court or plead guilty to save time - https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article237037159.html Public defenders ordered to violate ethics to keep defe