Maine’s top-ranking justice admonished Gov. Janet Mills for failing to appoint a new judge to the supreme court for more than a year.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has operated short-staffed since January 2024 when Justice Joseph Jabar retired, Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill said at her State of the Judiciary address Tuesday morning before the House and Senate.
“We’ve had a vacancy for a year but I’m hopeful that’s going to be filled soon,” Stanfill said.
The complaint was among the variety of issues Stanfill discussed throughout her roughly 40-minute speech, including the state’s lawyer shortage and the fact that Maine ranks 51st in the nation for judicial salaries. The yearly speech is given by the state’s highest ranking justice and provides an overview of the system’s operations.
Mills did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the “vast majority” of civil and family cases, at least one side does not have a lawyer representing them, Stanfill said in regards to the lawyer shortage. At the end of 2024, there were 1,150 indigent defense cases pending without a court-appointed lawyer, which includes child protective cases as well as adult and juvenile criminal cases.
“The availability of lawyers, legal advice and legal representation is increasingly a pipe dream for many of our citizens,” Stanfill said.
In a single day the supreme court may encounter as many as 40 child protection cases that are waiting for a lawyer to be appointed, she said. Cases involving Maine’s more vulnerable children are taking longer to resolve.
“While the public defender offices hold promise for the future, they cannot currently meet the demand,” Stanfill said.
In 2023, Maine had the lowest judicial salaries out of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., so the Legislature increased salaries during the last biannual budget, Stanfill said.
“I am pleased now to report that after the raises … as of January 2025, Maine judicial salaries now rank 51st,” Stanfill said. “Fifty-first in the country when adjusted for cost of living, still after every other state and the District of Columbia.”
The salary for judges sets the bar for what court staff throughout the system are paid and can make it difficult to attract high-level professionals for other roles, Stanfill said.
“The role and duty of judges is to adjudicate independently, fairly, and in a timely fashion,” Stanfill said. “These are the ideals and indeed the requirements of our state and federal constitutions and to carry out that duty, the judicial branch must have adequate resources.”
