(Stock photo by Motortion/Getty Images)
In a landmark ruling last Friday, the Kennebec County Superior Court decided in favor of the ACLU of Maine and our clients, ordering the state to uphold the people’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel and establish a plan to end our state’s ongoing crisis.
The U.S. Constitution requires states to provide attorneys to people who have been charged with a crime and who cannot afford their own. In 2019, the Sixth Amendment Center reported that Maine was not meeting its constitutional obligations, and that the situation would only get worse without serious changes. As of early March of this year, nearly 500 people were facing charges but had no attorney. Of those, 111 were incarcerated, locked up at a time when they are legally innocent.
We recognized that this was one of the most important constitutional issues facing Maine’s people because it undermines the fundamental principle that all people are innocent until proven guilty and creates a two-tiered system of justice: one for the rich and one for the poor.
Starting in 2019, we worked for three years to convince the state to fix things. That advocacy didn’t lead to change, so we took the state to court. On March 1, 2022, we sued the state so people’s Sixth Amendment rights would not exist not only on paper, but also in practice.
Three years later, on March 7, 2025, the court ordered the state to develop a plan to guarantee legal assistance for people accused of crimes, starting from when charges are formalized through the end of the case. If the state can’t develop and implement a plan, the court is going to order people released from jail and charges dismissed.
This order is a serious remedy designed to address an egregious problem. It’s also not a new or radical idea. More than two decades ago, Massachusetts’ highest court imposed a similar remedy to address their Sixth Amendment crisis. More recently, an Oregon federal court ordered that people be released from incarceration after seven days without counsel.
Over the course of this case, the ACLU of Maine and volunteer lawyers from Goodwin Procter and Preti Flaherty worked thousands of hours. We spoke to countless people who have spent weeks, months, and even years languishing in jails awaiting legal representation.
We witnessed firsthand what it looks like when the state doesn’t uphold the right to counsel. People have lost their jobs and homes, parents have missed their children’s birthdays, and others were unable to visit a dying parent. While these members of our communities wait for their day in court, evidence gets lost, witnesses’ memories fade, and their case weakens. All the while, prosecutors are bringing the full weight of the state’s power against them — in the name of Maine’s people — and they have no one by their side.
A fair and transparent process is best for everyone: the accused, victims of crimes, and the public. Our criminal legal system is designed to get to the truth so the innocent can be free and clear their names, victims can seek justice, and the public can stay informed. But none of that can happen unless the accused have an attorney.
As the court noted, “Plaintiffs in this case have not been convicted of the crimes for which they are charged. Each of them is still presumed to be innocent under the Maine and United States Constitutions. And yet many of them remain in custody, without counsel.” No innocent person should be locked up or dragged through the legal system for months without a lawyer to guide them through the process and advocate for their rights.
This ruling is a significant milestone in the fight for Sixth Amendment rights in Maine, but there’s a long way to go. Just as criminal charges are brought by the State of Maine, an enduring solution will require a comprehensive state response from all branches of government.
To start, the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services will file a written plan on April 3, outlining how they intend to provide attorneys to people who cannot afford their own and end this crisis. If people are still denied counsel, courts will begin the process of releasing people from jail and dismissing their charges. (Charges could be brought again once the state can provide an attorney.)
This is a situation that should be intolerable to everyone in Maine, and we fervently hope the court’s decision brings us closer to a solution.
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