ACLU of Maine Archives | The Maine Monitor

9 min

Defense lawyers say system crumbling under huge backlog, inadequate funding for indigent defendants

The Legislature faces a vote on a $21.8 million package to overhaul the state’s criminal defense system, but Gov. Mills has yet to signal approval.

BySamantha Hogan

June 6, 2021

Josh Tardy chairman of MCILS public defense

4 min

Two-year budget leaves public defense reform underfunded

Lawmakers delay decision again on whether to add money to the next state budget for legal services for Maine's poor.

BySamantha Hogan

April 25, 2021

Justin Andrus poses for a photo with the dome of the Maine State House in the distance.

10 min

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

Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services

5 min

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

5 min

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

ACLU of Maine

Defense lawyers say system crumbling under huge backlog, inadequate funding for indigent defendants

Two-year budget leaves public defense reform underfunded

Temporary director races to reform public defense system

Officials propose doubling budget for agency charged with defending the poor

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

Calls to overhaul Maine probate courts have stalled for half a century. The most vulnerable people may be at risk.

Here are the latest figures on the highest-paid employees at Maine’s public universities

In Washington County, getting from here to there isn’t so simple

Six takeaways from the Monitor’s probate court investigation

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