ABOUT THIS SERIES
An investigation by The Maine Monitor and ProPublica found that more than a quarter of Maine attorneys disciplined in the past decade for serious professional misconduct were hired as lawyers for the poor. Sex crimes and felony convictions were among the most severe infractions overlooked in the only state without public defenders. Defendants paid the price.
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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.
Latest Articles
Maine judge grants class action status to ACLU suit on public defense system
Availability of Maine defense lawyers reaches all-time low
Justice rules ACLU can proceed with lawsuit against state public defense agency, commissioners
Lawmakers approve funding to hire Maine’s first public defenders
Lawmakers make last-minute bid to “pony up” money for indigent legal defense
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