Maine’s legislature will consider three bills this session aimed at improving Maine’s system for representing criminal defendants who can’t afford to pay for a lawyer. The system is currently under investigation by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, after allegations of fraud, waste and lack of responsible oversight. Maine is the only state without any public defender system. Instead, defendants who can't afford a lawyer get one appointed from a pool of 420 private lawyers who have volunteered for the task through the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services.
Guests
- Jamesa Drake is president of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Drake has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, litigated hundreds of criminal appeals, and represented seven people on death row.
- Alison Beyea is executive director at the ACLU of Maine; she oversees the organization’s legal, legislative, public education and development activities.
- Joshua A Tardy is an attorney with the law firm Rudman Winchell. He served in the Maine House of Representatives from District 25 from 2002 to 2010, including two terms as Minority Leader. He is chair of the Maine Commission of Indigent Legal Services.
- Victoria Morales is serving her first term representing Maine's House District 33, which covers South Portland. She's chair of the Young People's Caucus and is an attorney. She is the executive director of the Quality Housing Coalition and co-founder of the Maine Youth Court.
Resources
