The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is nearing a vote on a sweeping overhaul of requirements for attorneys who represent the poor. Members were stunned to learn existing rules for protective custody cases have not been enforced for nearly a decade.
Once seen as a critical first hurdle to clear, the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is now pivoting to building confidence in a fraught system as Gov. Janet Mills bypasses adding new funds for defense reforms to her biennium budget proposal.
After a decade at the helm, John Pelletier will step away from his role as executive director of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services on Dec. 11. There will be a national search to find his replacement while the commission presses forward with a major overhaul to its rules and qualifications for attorneys.
Maine’s defense agency lacks the oversight structures and staffing to provide “high-quality representation” to the state’s poorest defendants. Maine’s democratic governor says more money won’t fix accountability problems.
The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services lacks established financial policies, a strong oversight structure and adequate staffing to meet its constitutional obligations to provide high-quality representation to criminal defendants who are too poor to afford an attorney, the state’s watchdog unit detailed in a report released on Monday.
Amid mounting criticism of his management of attorneys, finances and the quality of legal services for the poor in Maine, John Pelletier is stepping down as executive director of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services. His last day will be Dec. 11.
Lawyers proposed opening Maine’s first two public defender offices and a substantial pay raise for court-appointed counsel in a $35.4 million budget approved by the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services.
Gov. Janet Mills publicly called for a bipartisan effort to reform Maine’s defense system for poor people accused of crimes in response to an investigation by The Maine Monitor and ProPublica.
Leah Kerwin began receiving daily texts and videos explicitly requesting sex. They came from her court-appointed attorney, who had already been suspended for other misconduct. When she spoke up, the situation got worse.
An investigation by The Maine Monitor and ProPublica found that more than a quarter of Maine attorneys disciplined in the past decade for serious professional misconduct were hired as lawyers for the poor. Sex crimes and felony convictions were among the most severe infractions overlooked in the only state without public defenders. Defendants paid the price.
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