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Members of a commission are asking state lawmakers to return to Augusta for a special session to approve an emergency infusion of cash to the agency that provides lawyers to low-income Mainers.
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The number of attorneys willing to take on indigent defense cases in Maine has fallen from more than 400 to just 163 during the past two-and-a-half years.
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Communication between a defendant and his or her attorney is supposed to be confidential. But after the Maine Monitor uncovered that nearly 1,000 phone calls between attorneys and their incarcerated clients had been recorded, a new commission was formed to review the issue.
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Commissioners and staff on a state panel expressed concerns Tuesday that Maine is failing to provide legal counsel to low-income defendants as demand for court-appointed attorneys coincides with a drop in lawyers willing to do the work.
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The $1.2 million approved by the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee will be used to hire five public defenders who would work largely in rural areas, essentially supplementing the commission’s roster of private attorneys.
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The ACLU of Maine has scheduled a press briefing for Tuesday morning to discuss what it described as a constitutional challenge to state practices.
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The proposed legislation would prohibit recording, monitoring, disseminating or divulging communication between incarcerated clients and their attorneys, and it establishes civil penalties for those who break the law.
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The Maine judiciary committee said it will go back to the drawing board to find ways to improve the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services.
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A prominent defense lawyer in southern Maine has asked to withdraw from nearly 200 cases as she resists a state investigation into complaints and billing discrepancies at her firm.
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AUGUSTA, Maine - A former Maine chief justice said something needs to give to ensure adequate funding and representation for poor people tried for crimes…