Jim Howaniec: Maine s criminal court system is in a constitutional emergency sunjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sunjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The right of Maine prisoners to privately talk with lawyers by phone, video conference, or across a table sharing documents in a jail or prison is the group's focus.
Lawmakers voted in April to spend nearly $1 million on the first team of public defenders, but a disagreement over whether their pay should equal that of prosecutors has stalled the hiring process.
Court system plans a trial blitz to start clearing backlog but lawyers aren t sure it will be enough observer-me.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from observer-me.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor
The availability of criminal defense attorneys is at an all-time low in Maine for defendants who cannot afford to hire their own attorney.
There are 224 attorneys currently accepting court-appointments to criminal or child protection cases statewide, which is down from 410 lawyers in May 2019, according to the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services.