Latest news with #MaineAssociationofCriminalDefenseLawyers
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Domestic violence survivors back bill seeking to protect against controlling behaviors
Several states including Connecticut, California and Massachusetts have recognized coercive control as part of domestic violence, although the definitions vary. (Photo by Getty Images) Agnes Brackett from Franklin County was in a 19-year abusive relationship that ended last year with her husband trying to burn down their home. Though he was arrested for buying guns and going on a rampage that included arson and domestic violence, according to police reports, Brackett said the abuse started long before, when her husband cut her off from her friends, monitored the time and the routes she took when she ran errands, and did not allow their daughter on the playground if other children were present. 'It would get to the point where it gets in your head, and it's insidious,' she said during a Monday public hearing before the Maine Legislature's Committee on Judiciary. 'It's not just the hitting. It's deeper than hitting because it's a place that nobody else can see.' She was one of several domestic violence survivors, mental health experts and advocates speaking in support of a new bill that would explicitly name such patterns of behavior in state statute under types of domestic violence, allowing victims to seek protection and abusers to be arrested or prosecuted. These behaviors, called 'coercive control,' are designed to 'dominate, isolate, manipulate or exploit a person who is a dating partner or a family or household member,' according to the bill text. Advocates said many survivors face one or more of these as a precursor to physical or sexual violence. The bill, introduced by Rep. Holly Rae Eaton (D-Deer Isle), includes several examples of coercive control such as limiting access to financial resources or employment; restricting or monitoring movements or communication, isolating partners from friends, family or support systems; using intimidation or threats to create fear or dependency; and exploiting victims' vulnerabilities such as immigration status, or disabilities. 'Often, this type of behavior goes unnoticed by other people, but is all too clear to the victim,' said Candis Veilleux, another survivor from Kennebec County. Several states including Connecticut, California and Massachusetts have recognized coercive control as part of domestic violence, according to Eaton, although the definitions vary. The Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers opposed the bill, saying the language was vague and lacks clear direction on how it can be enforced. 'This lack of clear legal standards could lead to significant unintended consequences, including the misuse of protective orders in contentious family disputes, particularly in divorce and child custody cases, as well as increased criminal prosecutions under these vague definitions,' attorney and MACDL member Eric Thistle of the Portland-based Thistle, Weaver and Morris wrote in submitted testimony. Current Maine statute does protect against most of the controlling behaviors, according to Andrea Mancuso of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. However, the coalition testified neither for nor against the bill, acknowledging that while it may not expand eligibility for the types of behaviors that could warrant a Protection from Abuse order, it does help make the protections more explicit. 'From our perspective, it does not expand eligibility for what types of behaviors you can walk into court and walk out with an order for, but it might allow more victims,' she said. 'Clearly, it will allow more victims to see their own lived experience reflected in the statute.' Mancuso said that if the bill passes, domestic violence victims seeking protection orders without the help of an attorney will be able to explicitly use the coercive control definitions to seek protection from courts. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Mills doubles down on urging Maine's public defense agency to relax rules
Jan. 29—Gov. Janet Mills made history in 2022 when she signed a bill authorizing the state to hire its first set of public defenders. Mills said in a speech Tuesday that she has helped quadruple the state's public defense budget from $11 million to $44 million (now $51 million per year in the proposed biennial budget) and approved dozens of public defense positions across a state that previously relied exclusively on the private bar. Yet in the last couple of years, Maine has struggled to find enough lawyers to represent people who cannot afford their own — a bedrock principle of the Constitution. Between 2022 and 2023, Mills said the number of unrepresented criminal defendants "skyrocketed" by more than 655%. Some have said the real issue is that the number of cases in Maine courts is up. According to data from the judicial branch, even though new prosecutions have declined by about 37% since 2010, cases are taking longer to resolve. There were 27.5% more felonies and misdemeanors pending on Jan. 24, compared to the same date in 2019. Mills is now asking lawmakers to deny the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services' requests for additional funding until the quasistate agency removes several new caseload limits and eligibility requirements for private attorneys who are still doing court-appointed work. "The current system has become a disastrous example of the perfect becoming the enemy of the good," said Mills. "Just a few years ago we had all the lawyers we needed, but not enough accountability. Now we have a system that is so focused on rules that it has driven away the lawyers." There's a fundamental disconnect between Mills' statements and many of those representing indigent defendants, even as everyone agrees the state is in a constitutional crisis, with hundreds of people in Maine courts being denied their right to a lawyer simply because none have been made available. The standards Mills has criticized were only recently imposed to address concerns that defendants were not receiving quality, effective representation, also promised by the Constitution. And her comments come as a judge is considering whether to release people from jail if they don't have an attorney within seven days. "I think the real undercurrent here is that there are some people behind the scenes, and obviously speaking at the podium, who think the way things were back in 1990 were just fine," said Tina Nadeau, director of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "A judge could sit on his throne, and he could pick anyone before him to represent somebody, not really knowing if they know much about criminal law. Not really caring if the person got effective representation, but just that they had a lawyer, 'good enough.' We can't go back to 'good enough.'" SCATHING REPORTS Since July, Mills has urged the commission to change its experience requirements so former prosecutors and civil attorneys can more easily take court-appointed cases, even if they've never practiced criminal defense. She has also asked the commission to remove requirements that bar attorneys from taking certain appeals cases for clients whom they represented on the trial-level. Ben Goodman, a spokesperson for Mills, said Wednesday that the office has heard from attorneys in private practice who have tried to join the commission's ranks, but "have not received call backs." Goodman said some have been "dropped without explanation" or "cannot jump through the bureaucratic hurdles the commission has put in place." Mills' office was not able to provide any names of those attorneys Wednesday night. The standards Mills is criticizing were enacted following scathing reports and investigations into the quality of representation offered by Maine's indigent defense system. One study by the national Sixth Amendment Center (and paid for by the state Legislature) found attorneys were overworked, didn't have enough time for their clients and were routinely pleading guilty under pressure. Another by the state's watchdog agency criticized the quality of indigent representation in Maine. "I think it's really important that people understand, (the commission) did what it did because the Legislature said, 'Fix this problem,'" former director Justin Andrus said in a phone interview Wednesday. "And they were right to call it a problem." Andrus took over in 2021 after those scathing reports were issued and left the commission in 2023. He has now returned to private defense and court-appointed work. "I give a lot of credit to the governor and to the Legislature for recognizing the need to fund the public defense system in ways that it had never been funded prior to 2021," said Andrus. "The problem is, the funding needs to be adequate, however painful that may be. ... The fact that they did some good work doesn't mean that's the end." A DISCONNECT Jim Billings, the commission's current director, disputed that there is a significant number of lawyers who are interested in court-appointed work but are stifled by the commission's rules. "There's a myth that persists that there's ... this tidal wave of warriors that want to do our work," Billings said during a commission meeting on Wednesday. "And that somehow we are holding them back by a four-page application and some requirements to get on a specialized panel to do homicides, sex cases and protective custody cases." Donald Alexander, a former supreme court justice who sits on the commission's seven-member board, said he has heard from lawyers who felt discouraged by the commission's rules, even though he felt they have worked hard to make waivers easily available. "I think Jim's doing the best he can there. The problem is some people feel disrespected and don't apply for waivers," he said in an interview Wednesday night. "It's an issue that's difficult." Alexander also said he disagreed with how the Sixth Amendment Center report characterized Maine's indigent defense system; "that was a slap in the face to a lot of attorneys who do a pretty good job." Billings said the commission offers waivers to attorneys who want to do court-appointed work but don't meet the experience requirements. He said he's also made it clear to judges that he's willing to work with anyone in this situation. Only a handful, "literally a handful of people," have reached out, he said. "There's no cavalry coming to rescue the unrepresented people in the state of Maine," Billings said. "It is our roster, and it is future public defenders. And the people out there who have volunteered to help us, we're grateful for the extra help ... but that's not a long-term sustainable solution to the problem that the state of Maine has built itself into." Copy the Story Link
