Much of my legislative work is dedicated to ensuring access to justice for all people in Maine. Access to justice includes strengthening the right to representation by a lawyer in a criminal trial even if you cannot afford to pay for one yourself, as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.

Maine has made good, bipartisan progress in recent years to rebuild our system for providing representation for all criminal defendants who cannot afford a lawyer. This includes the creation of a dedicated public defender system: the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services. While public defender offices have been established to serve four of Maine’s seven prosecutorial districts, many incarcerated defendants in Maine still remain unrepresented.

The persistent lack of representation for these clients led the ACLU of Maine to sue the state in 2022. Last month, Kennebec County Superior Court Justice Micaela Murphy ruled that the state was failing to fulfill defendants’ Sixth Amendment rights and that a series of hearings would take place to determine whether unrepresented detainees would be released starting in April. Additionally, the order asserted that charges could be dropped against defendants who went without representation for more than 60 days.

The ruling alarmed many in our state, including my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee and myself. Releasing people accused of violent crimes and dismissing the charges against them poses a public safety concern for communities throughout Maine. With continued urgency, we resumed our work on the difficult challenge of providing representation to all who need it in light of the limited resources available.

Our vehicle for this was LD 1101, “An Act to Address the Limited Availability of Counsel in Courts to Represent Indigent Parties in Matters Affecting Their Fundamental Rights,” which I sponsored and worked on with the Judiciary Committee. The bill, if it becomes law, will create five new public defender positions to help represent the incarcerated defendants who do not yet have attorneys. It also relaxes some of the requirements for private attorneys who wish to serve as court-appointed counsel to represent individuals who cannot afford a lawyer. The short-term provision is intended to help the public defense system in working through the immediate need for representation.

LD 1101 gives Maine’s public defender system the additional resources it desperately needs to comply with Justice Murphy’s order in a way that provides effective representation to the defendants and protects public safety. The resources in this bill also ensure representation of parents in child protection cases who have a Sixth Amendment right to an attorney.

We passed this bill in the House and the Senate with strong, bipartisan support, and it is now on the governor’s desk. I am hopeful that she will sign this important legislation so it can become law immediately.

Anne Carney represents Senate District 29, Cape Elizabeth; South Portland and part of Scarborough. She can be reached at Anne.Carney@legislature.maine.gov or 207-287-1515. To sign up for a biweekly e-newsletter, visit mainesenate.org.