A Maine Superior Court judge has ruled that the state is failing to meet its obligation to provide legal counsel to defendants who cannot afford their own attorney.
Justice Michaela Murphy ordered the state to create a plan to address a backlog of cases or defendants who have waited for more than two weeks for an attorney will be released from jail starting in April.
The lawsuit against the state was first brought by the ACLU of Maine three years ago and since then the backlog of people waiting for an attorney has grown, with some waiting for months and years to be tried in court.
“The first line remedy should be the state should provide counsel. And only if that fails would the court take next steps,” said Carol Garvan, the legal director of the ACLU of Maine.
About two dozen public defenders have been hired to work in several offices around the state but Murphy said the effort has “fallen short.”
The Maine Commission of Public Defender Services had asked the state for an additional $12 million to help address the problem, but Executive Director Jim Billings said in court testimony that it was not included in Gov. Janet Mills’ proposed budget.
A request for comment from Billings was not immediately returned.
