By Samantha Hogan, October 14, 2020, The Maine Monitor.

Gov. Janet Mills publicly called for a bipartisan effort to reform Maine’s defense system for poor people accused of crimes in response to an investigation by The Maine Monitor and ProPublica.

Gov. Janet Mills of Maine publicly called for a bipartisan effort during the next legislative session to reform the state’s system for defending poor people accused of crimes in response to an investigation published by The Maine Monitor and ProPublica.

Mills said last week that she was “disturbed” by articles from the news organizations that showed that the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, or MCILS, had contracted attorneys with criminal backgrounds to represent impoverished clients.

“I don’t think we have a choice because in the long run it’ll cost us more if we don’t fix it,” Bailey said. “People have a constitutional right to be represented and represented well in the court. It’s not optional.”

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