Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services
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PublishedOctober 19, 2022
Commentary: As Maine’s indigent defense system crumbles, Mills stands idly by
The timing for a special session to appropriate $13 million for public defenders may not be ideal. That should not stop Gov. Mills from calling it.
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PublishedOctober 14, 2022
Our View: Mills, lawmakers have obligation to aid legal system for low-income Mainers
Maine’s governor seems hesitant to call a special session. She should reconsider.
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PublishedOctober 11, 2022
Gov. Mills hesitant to pursue emergency funds for indigent legal services, emails show
Gov. Janet Mills asks the agency in charge of providing legal defense to low-income Mainers if it has done enough to recruit attorneys to address an ongoing shortage.
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PublishedOctober 7, 2022
Maine attorney general, ACLU agree to settlement talks in indigent legal services case
The dispute centers on whether the state provides effective legal representation to the state's poor.
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PublishedSeptember 28, 2022
Indigent defender commission sends emergency funding request to governor, lawmakers
The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is asking for $13.3 million before next year to increase the hourly rate for attorneys. But lawmakers would have to come together for an unlikely special session to approve the spending.
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PublishedSeptember 23, 2022
Our View: Maine’s indigent legal services system cannot wait for help any longer
Gov. Mills and the Legislature could have solved this problem last session. Now the crisis has deepened.
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PublishedSeptember 21, 2022
Citing emergency, Maine’s legal service for the poor requests $13.3 million
Faced with a dwindling roster of attorneys, the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services wants to increase the hourly rate from $80 to $150 for lawyers who agree to represent low-income Mainers.
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PublishedAugust 30, 2022
Commentary: Lawyers are to be blamed for lack of access to justice in Maine
It’s not that attorneys don’t want to represent low-income clients – it’s that we’ve made it impossible for each other to do so.
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PublishedAugust 28, 2022
Our View: No longer just a crisis but an indefensible failure
The more we neglect legal representation for people who can’t pay for it, the more painful the cost – social and financial – to the state of Maine.
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PublishedJuly 18, 2022
Judge approves class-action status for Maine indigent legal services lawsuit
The ruling means the ACLU suit against the state will have more than 5,800 defendants instead of just 5.