Maine is the only state in the country with no public defender system. Instead, legal services for the poor are left to private attorneys, who face disproportionately high amounts of discipline, and an office that doesn’t supervise them.
Read it and weep…
In the past 10 years, the commission has repeatedly hired attorneys and staff members with criminal backgrounds to represent the state’s poorest defendants, according to interviews and records from the police, courts, MCILS and the state’s disciplinary agency for attorneys. One lawyer is a registered sex offender, convicted of possessing child pornography. Another was found to have exposed himself to a client. A staffer convicted of felony theft now reviews defendants’ finances to determine whether they will receive a state-funded attorney.
Read on at. https://www.propublica.org/article/maine-hires-lawyers-with-criminal-records-to-defend-its-poorest-residents
