Samantha Hogan

133 posts

Samantha Hogan focuses on government accountability projects for The Maine Monitor. She joined the newsroom as its first full-time reporter in 2019 with Report for America. Samantha was named the 2021 Maine’s Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press Association, and spent 2020 reporting on Maine’s court system through the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. Her reporting on county jails recording and listening to attorney-client phone calls won the Silver Gavel award from the American Bar Association and was also a semi-finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2023. Samantha previously worked for The Frederick News-Post and interned twice for The Washington Post.

Justin Andrus poses for a photo with the Maine State House dome in the distant background.

Temporary director races to reform public defense system

With 120 days to make a difference, Justin Andrus has proposed top-to-bottom changes to get Maine’s struggling public defense agency back on track.

BySamantha Hogan

February 26, 2021

A drawn illustration of the inside of a courtroom. On the left, an inmate dressed in an orange jumpsuit is looking at the empty seat next to them where their defense attorney should be sitting. On the right, sitting at a separate table, is a prosecutor.

Lawyers who were ineligible to handle serious criminal charges were given thousands of these cases anyway

In the only state with no public defenders, people charged with murder and other serious crimes can get assigned attorneys who are legally ineligible to take on their cases. The state claims it was unaware.

BySamantha Hogan Agnel Philip

February 23, 2021

The dome of the Maine State House as shown through exterior fencing along the edge of the property.

Temporary public defense director selected amid major reform, barebone budget

On the same day the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services selected a new interim director, Gov. Janet Mills' $8.4 billion budget excluded funds for public defense reforms that lawmakers say are needed.

BySamantha Hogan

January 10, 2021

exterior of the cumberland county courthouse

Maine’s public defense agency acknowledges it didn’t enforce rules on attorney qualifications

The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is nearing a vote on a sweeping overhaul of requirements for attorneys who represent the poor. Members were stunned to learn existing rules for protective custody cases have not been enforced for nearly a decade.

BySamantha Hogan

December 23, 2020

janet mills speaks during a press conference

Budget Breakdown: Public defense initiatives miss governor’s biennium budget

Once seen as a critical first hurdle to clear, the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is now pivoting to building confidence in a fraught system as Gov. Janet Mills bypasses adding new funds for defense reforms to her biennium budget proposal.

BySamantha Hogan

December 20, 2020

A screenshot of a virtual committee meeting for the Maine Commission for Indigent Legal Services. Four members are visible in this screenshot: chairman Josh Tardy and commissioners Bob Cummins, Mary Zmigrodski and Bob LeBrasseur.

Maine begins search for new public defense director, approves rule changes

After a decade at the helm, John Pelletier will step away from his role as executive director of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services on Dec. 11. There will be a national search to find his replacement while the commission presses forward with a major overhaul to its rules and qualifications for attorneys.

BySamantha Hogan

November 22, 2020

illustration of lawyers in disarray while a defendant sits in a jail cell

Maine governor won’t fund defense reforms without accountability

Maine’s defense agency lacks the oversight structures and staffing to provide "high-quality representation" to the state’s poorest defendants. Maine's democratic governor says more money won't fix accountability problems.

BySamantha Hogan

November 11, 2020