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.

A bronze statute of a scales of justice figurine.

Ineffective financial oversight, missed obligations of Maine’s public defense agency detailed in new report

The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services lacks established financial policies, a strong oversight structure and adequate staffing to meet its constitutional obligations to provide high-quality representation to criminal defendants who are too poor to afford an attorney, the state's watchdog unit detailed in a report released on Monday.

BySamantha Hogan

November 9, 2020

An illustration of John Pelletier, the executive director of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services

Following multiple investigations, director of Maine’s public defense agency resigns

Amid mounting criticism of his management of attorneys, finances and the quality of legal services for the poor in Maine, John Pelletier is stepping down as executive director of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services. His last day will be Dec. 11.

BySamantha Hogan

November 4, 2020

screenshot of a vote by the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services

Officials propose doubling budget for agency charged with defending the poor

Lawyers proposed opening Maine’s first two public defender offices and a substantial pay raise for court-appointed counsel in a $35.4 million budget approved by the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services.

BySamantha Hogan

October 25, 2020

exterior of the Androscoggin County Jail

Securus Technologies asks court to dismiss lawsuit over wiretapping at Maine jails

The lawsuit alleges the largest provider of inmate telephone services in Maine violated state and federal wiretapping laws when it recorded calls between inmates and attorneys. Public records obtained by The Maine Monitor show Securus' system recorded at least 161 inmates speaking with lawyers at three county jails.

BySamantha Hogan

October 21, 2020

Governor Janet Mills speaks during a press conference

Maine hires lawyers with criminal records to defend poor residents. The governor wants reform.

Gov. Janet Mills publicly called for a bipartisan effort to reform Maine's defense system for poor people accused of crimes in response to an investigation by The Maine Monitor and ProPublica.

BySamantha Hogan

October 14, 2020

an illustration of a hand holding a phone that depicts a female defendant sitting in a jail cell

She was afraid of her lawyer. Then the text messages started.

Leah Kerwin began receiving daily texts and videos explicitly requesting sex. They came from her court-appointed attorney, who had already been suspended for other misconduct. When she spoke up, the situation got worse.

BySamantha Hogan

October 8, 2020

A low bar for public defense

Maine is the only state in the country with no public defender system. A nine-month investigation by The Maine Monitor and ProPublica found that legal services for the poor are left to private attorneys, who face disproportionately high amounts of discipline and an office that doesn’t supervise them.

BySamantha Hogan Agnel Philip

October 6, 2020