The lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Maine states that the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is not upholding its duties under the U.S. Constitution to provide adequate defense counsel to all Maine residents.
Attorneys for the state have failed in their initial efforts to block a lawsuit that alleges Maine is not providing adequate legal representation to low-income defendants.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) A lawsuit over the system that provides attorneys to those who can’t afford them is being allowed to proceed. The class-action lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine contends there’s a failure to train, supervise and adequately fund a system to ensure the constitutional right to effective counsel.
The ACLU contends Maine has failed in its duty to provide competent, well-supervised attorneys for poor criminal defendants who cannot afford to hire their own.