Justice Wayne Douglas has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 14 to consider whether 3 Aroostook County men who don’t have court-appointed attorneys are being held illegally.
maine supreme judicial court
Judiciary asks Maine’s high court to dismiss petition to release unrepresented defendants
Supreme Judicial Court Justice Wayne Douglas will meet Monday with attorneys to discuss the petition to identify and release from county jails low-income people who are being held pretrial without an attorney.
Former Franklin County prosecutor’s license to practice law is reinstated
Kayla Alves was convicted in federal court of tampering in connection to a medical marijuana distribution and money laundering scheme in Franklin County.
Lawyers seek release for woman jailed nearly 3 months without representation
Two attorneys, concerned about Maine’s legal defense system for the poor, are urging the state’s highest court to release a woman they say has been jailed for more than 80 days without a court-appointed attorney – as well as anyone “similarly situated.”
Chelsea man who killed 3 pedestrians in 2021 Augusta crash loses appeal to state’s high court
Robert Santerre, the driver who struck and killed two women and a baby walking alongside Cony Road in 2021, had appealed his nine-year license suspension to the state Supreme Judicial Court.
Maine chief justice asks legal community to help represent indigent clients
Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill said in a letter to seven large law firms that the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is considering rule changes for lawyers willing to take child custody appeals.
Public utility referendum question must be reworded, Maine Supreme Judicial Court rules
The questioning about the question continues as the state’s highest court decides the precise language about the creation of a public-owned electric utility.
Maine supreme court to decide on removal of time limit in church sex abuse cases
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is asking the state’s highest court to determine whether a 2021 state law removing the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims is constitutional.
Justice Wayne Douglas sworn in to Maine’s highest court
Gov. Janet Mills presided over his swearing in ceremony Friday at the State House. Douglas has been a superior court justice since 2015.
Murder sentence tossed over Maine judge’s sentencing ‘conundrum’
A judge’s comments about the sentencing presented a problem because defendants are not supposed to be punished for exercising their constitutional right to a trial, the state’s high court found.