Eavesdropping in Maine Jails

ABOUT THIS SERIES

Jailed defendants have a legal right to privately speak with their attorneys. Yet, in Maine, county jails are eavesdropping on these calls. Four jails recorded nearly 1,000 attorney-client calls in a single year and shared recordings with police and prosecutors before trial, a Maine Monitor investigation found. Often defense lawyers are not told when their calls are recorded and agencies lack rules about what to do once law enforcement and prosecutors eavesdrop on jailed suspects’ calls to their attorneys.

A banner showcasing logos for the four organizations that supported the Eavesdropping in Maine Jails project: the International Women's Media Foundation, the Pulitzer Center, Report for America, and the Investigative Editing Corps.

Jailed defendants expected private attorney calls. They didn’t always get them.

BySamantha Hogan

January 26, 2022

Murder suspects fear they can’t get a fair trial after state police acknowledge listening to portions of phone calls with their attorneys.

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A phone hangs on a wall inside a common area at a jail.

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BySamantha Hogan

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The exterior of the Kennebec County Correctional Facility

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Kennebec County memo shows investigator monitored calls a man made to his lawyer in April 2022.

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DATABASE OF RECORDED CALLS

Maine jails recorded nearly 1,000 calls from inmates to their attorneys at the Aroostook, Androscoggin, Franklin and Kennebec county jails. The Maine Monitor filed public records requests to obtain the records, which span June 2019 to May 2020.

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