Maine will add two new public defender workplaces underneath a invoice that handed the Legislature and was signed by Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday.
Till just lately, Maine was the one state within the nation that relied totally on non-public attorneys prepared to characterize defendants who couldn’t afford a lawyer. However the variety of attorneys prepared to take circumstances by the Maine Fee on Indigent Authorized Providers has plummeted in recent times. That pattern, mixed with a extreme backlog of courtroom circumstances, has led to a state of affairs the place some felony defendants are lingering in jail with out illustration.
Lawmakers have beforehand funded greater than a dozen public defender positions and an workplace in Augusta. The invoice rapidly signed into legislation by Mills on Thursday will create two new workplaces to serve Aroostook, Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. It would additionally improve the variety of public defenders from 15 to 25.
“This laws creates new public defender positions throughout communities in rural Maine and advances my dedication to enhancing the supply of authorized companies to low-income individuals to make sure their Constitutional proper to counsel,” Mills, a former prosecutor and lawyer basic, mentioned in an announcement. “The best to counsel is one which I deeply worth and have personally delivered myself, having represented low-income shoppers many occasions throughout my very own authorized profession. I thank the Legislature for passing this invoice, which is per my finances proposal, in such a well timed method.”
The invoice, LD 653, additionally modifications the identify of the Fee on Indigent Authorized Providers to the Maine Fee on Public Protection Providers. Invoice sponsor Sen. Lisa Keim, R-Dixfield, mentioned the brand new identify higher displays the work of the company.
“The individuals of Maine, once we advocate for this, they may know what their cash goes to. And that’s why I assumed it was so vital to alter the identify. They need to perceive as a result of they may get behind it after they perceive what it’s.”.
The ACLU of Maine filed a class-action lawsuit final 12 months, claiming the state was failing to fulfill its constitutional obligation to offer competent protection attorneys to defendants. The ACLU estimated on Thursday that there are nonetheless 500 indigent defendants ready for appointments with attorneys throughout the state.
“The present system denies numerous individuals their Sixth Modification proper to the efficient help of counsel,” Zach Heiden, chief counsel of the ACLU of Maine, mentioned in an announcement. “For years, Maine has relied totally on non-public attorneys to fulfill its public constitutional obligations, however lastly that’s beginning to change. LD 653 is a major step ahead for guaranteeing individuals in Maine have efficient counsel.”
This text seems by a media partnership with Maine Public.
