By David Sharp
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine sued the state’s public defender system Tuesday, saying it fails to provide adequate representation for defendants who can’t afford to hire an attorney.
The class action lawsuit contends the current system fails to train, supervise and adequately fund a public defender system that’s supposed to ensure the constitutional right to effective counsel. The lawsuit seeks changes to ensure it for low-income Maine residents.
“This failure has created two systems of justice: one for the wealthy, and one for the poor,” said Zachary Heiden, chief counsel at the ACLU of Maine.
All states are required to provide an attorney to people who are unable to afford their own lawyer. But Maine is the only one that hires and assigns private attorneys for all “indigent” cases. Other states have some version of a public defender’s office.
A scathing report in 2019 outlined significant shortcomings in Maine’s system, including lax oversight of the billing practices by the private attorneys commissioned to defend low-income clients.
The ACLU has sued in other states for changes. But the ACLU of Maine previously resisted doing so here in hopes that changes would be made.
The lawsuit, filed in Kennebec County, contends the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services failed to set and enforce standards for attorneys and failed to monitor and evaluate them. Further, there was inadequate funding and training for participating attorneys, it said.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of several criminal defendants and names the commission and its leaders.
