Maine is failing to uphold the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel for people who cannot afford their own attorney. After extensive settlement negotiations with the state, we are returning to litigation.
PORTLAND – The ACLU of Maine is returning to litigation in its case challenging the State of Maine’s failure to provide adequate assistance of counsel to people who cannot afford their own attorney. Following extensive settlement negotiations with the state, the Kennebec County Superior Court ordered the parties to return to litigation.
The initial lawsuit, filed on March 1, 2022, focused on the state’s failure to provide effective assistance of counsel to people charged with a crime who cannot afford their own attorney. Since that filing, matters have become gravely worse. Justice Michaela Murphy, who is hearing the case, wrote in her latest order that as the number of attorneys available to provide indigent defense has fallen, the risk of denial of counsel “has become more than a risk for many Class Members.” While the court praised the proposed settlement agreement for ensuring the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services appropriately supervises, evaluates, supports, and trains defense counsel, it also ordered the parties to address the state’s failure to provide some indigent defendants with attorneys at all.
The ACLU of Maine is committed to holding the state accountable for its obligation to not only provide effective assistance of counsel, but to ensure all people charged with a crime are assigned counsel in the first place. The court set a March 8 deadline for the plaintiffs to amend their original complaint to add new claims and parties. Litigation will happen on a two-phase schedule. The first phase will focus on whether the state has denied class members the right to counsel by failing to provide them with an attorney. The second phase will focus on issues raised in the original lawsuit: the systemic lack of supervision, training, and support that risk leaving people with ineffective assistance of counsel.
“Maine is the only state that relies almost entirely on private attorneys for this essential and constitutionally mandated public service,” said ACLU of Maine Legal Director Carol Garvan. “As a result, Maine is in the midst of a constitutional crisis of denying people the right to counsel and the right to effective assistance of counsel. A person’s liberty and experience in the legal system should never depend on their wealth.”
“The denial of counsel often leaves people waiting weeks, even months, before being assigned an attorney,” said ACLU of Maine Chief Counsel Zach Heiden. “393 people are currently waiting for counsel to be appointed, and roughly 100 of those people are sitting in jail. We are committed to doing everything possible to ensure the state upholds the Sixth Amendment rights of all people accused of a crime in Maine.”
The court has ordered the amended complaint for the first phase to be filed by March 8, 2024. An in-person hearing has been scheduled for 9AM on March 15 at the Capital Judicial Center. The trial for the first phase will begin the last week of June 2024.
