Dozens of accused people, presumed innocent, are languishing in Maine jails without an appointed attorney. An immediate influx of funding is required.
Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services
Posted inCops & Courts, Local & State, News
System to help poor defendants is worsening in rural Maine
Attorneys staffing the struggling indigent defense program say the solutions they’re seeing can’t keep up with the systemic problems.
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Posted inOp-eds, Opinion
Commentary: As Maine’s indigent defense system crumbles, Mills stands idly by
The timing for a special session to appropriate $13 million for public defenders may not be ideal. That should not stop Gov. Mills from calling it.
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Mills, lawmakers have obligation to aid legal system for low-income Mainers
Maine’s governor seems hesitant to call a special session. She should reconsider.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Gov. Mills hesitant to pursue emergency funds for indigent legal services, emails show
Gov. Janet Mills asks the agency in charge of providing legal defense to low-income Mainers if it has done enough to recruit attorneys to address an ongoing shortage.
Posted inLocal & State
Maine attorney general, ACLU agree to settlement talks in indigent legal services case
The dispute centers on whether the state provides effective legal representation to the state’s poor.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Indigent defender commission sends emergency funding request to governor, lawmakers
The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is asking for $13.3 million before next year to increase the hourly rate for attorneys. But lawmakers would have to come together for an unlikely special session to approve the spending.
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Maine’s indigent legal services system cannot wait for help any longer
Gov. Mills and the Legislature could have solved this problem last session. Now the crisis has deepened.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Citing emergency, Maine’s legal service for the poor requests $13.3 million
Faced with a dwindling roster of attorneys, the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services wants to increase the hourly rate from $80 to $150 for lawyers who agree to represent low-income Mainers.
Posted inOp-eds, Opinion
Commentary: Lawyers are to be blamed for lack of access to justice in Maine
It’s not that attorneys don’t want to represent low-income clients – it’s that we’ve made it impossible for each other to do so.