Maine

Maine will hire its first public defenders to aid struggling indigent defense system

Maine, the last state without public defenders, will soon deploy five of them after Democratic Gov. Janet T. Mills signed a bill earlier this month to create a rural public defenders unit.

May 19, 2022 11:24 AM CDT

Law firm earned $6.8M for indigent defense since 2016, according to state’s overbilling suit

A lawyer who was once the highest-paid public defense lawyer in Maine is facing a state lawsuit contending that she and her law firm misrepresented the hours that they worked on behalf of indigent defendants.

Dec 13, 2021 11:36 AM CST

Weekly Briefs: Emmett Till probe closed; Black couple’s suit says appraisal changed with pretend white homeowner

DOJ closes Emmett Till investigation The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its reopened investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black youth tortured and shot in Mississippi after he was accused of making sexual advances toward a white woman in her store. The woman had testified…

Dec 10, 2021 3:17 PM CST

New prosecutors reopen investigations into deadly police shootings

Progressive prosecutors are reopening investigations of deadly police shootings that resulted in no charges under their predecessors, spurring pushback from police unions.

Dec 2, 2021 11:55 AM CST

Weekly Briefs: ‘Copyright troll’ lawyer is suspended; law grad who married Japanese princess fails bar

‘Copyright troll’ lawyer is suspended in NY A New York appeals court has suspended a lawyer once deemed a “copyright troll” because of the large number of copyright complaints that he filed on behalf of photographers. The Appellate Division’s Second Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court suspended lawyer…

Nov 5, 2021 3:16 PM CDT

Supreme Court allows vaccine mandate for health workers that didn’t offer religious exemption

Maine’s vaccine mandate for health care workers, which doesn’t allow religious exemptions, is being enforced after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene Friday.

Nov 1, 2021 9:56 AM CDT

Do worker COVID-19 vaccine mandates have to offer religious exemptions? Courts differ; Breyer declines to act

Updated: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer on Tuesday refused to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for Maine health care workers that did not include an exemption for religious exemptions.

Oct 20, 2021 11:18 AM CDT

Biden’s new picks for solicitor general and Manhattan US attorney once clerked for AG Garland

President Joe Biden’s new nominees for U.S. solicitor general and for U.S. attorney in Manhattan, New York City, both clerked for U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland when he was a federal appeals judge, and both clerked for U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Aug 12, 2021 9:05 AM CDT

Cases challenging expired COVID-19 church restrictions fail in Supreme Court and 8th Circuit

A Maine church and Christian residents of a county in Missouri have failed in their lawsuits challenging COVID-19 restrictions that have since been lifted.

Aug 3, 2021 9:38 AM CDT

Unvaccinated lawyer has to wear mask at client’s trial after top state court refuses to intervene

A criminal defense lawyer in Augusta, Maine, has to wear a mask in his client’s jury trial this week after the state’s top court refused to consider his claim that the face covering would prejudice jurors.

Jul 20, 2021 1:08 PM CDT

Lawyer asks to withdraw from nearly 200 indigent-defense cases after state investigation

A prominent defense lawyer in Maine has asked to withdraw from nearly 200 court-appointed cases after the state’s public defense agency opened an investigation into her firm.

Jul 13, 2021 3:00 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Judge strikes down CDC eviction moratorium; lawyer’s dogged determination brings cash

Judge strikes down CDC eviction moratorium U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker of Tyler, Texas, has struck down a moratorium on most residential evictions by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Barker said the federal government’s power to regulate interstate commerce doesn’t extend to an eviction ban. Barker…

Feb 26, 2021 3:10 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: California defends bar exam facial-recognition tech; pants-on-fire lawyer arrested

California bar responds to disparate impact allegation regarding facial recognition technology After receiving a Feb. 10 demand letter to remove facial recognition technology from the remote bar exam on the basis it could create an unlawful disparate impact for women and people of color, the State Bar of California issued…

Feb 17, 2021 4:45 PM CST

What are ethics issues for lawyers practicing remotely from a different state during the pandemic?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more lawyers have worked remotely from home and practiced law primarily through electronic means. Some of these lawyers live in a different state than where they are licensed to practice law.

Dec 16, 2020 2:45 PM CST

Lawyers with criminal backgrounds and disciplinary records represent poor defendants in Maine

The Maine agency responsible for hiring lawyers for poor defendants has repeatedly hired lawyers and staff members with criminal backgrounds and disciplinary issues, according to an investigative report.

Oct 8, 2020 12:15 PM CDT