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Maine has faced a critical shortage of available criminal defense lawyers for more than a year. The courts system faces a backlog of hundreds of cases and the number of lawyers contracted with MCILS has declined significantly, The Maine Monitor reported.
Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel The right to an attorney has applied in federal prosecutions for most of the nation's history, but it did not extend to all state-level felony cases, based on the Fourteenth Amendment, until the U.S. Supreme Court decided Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).
Other States have a Publicly funded office with attorneys who represent defendants who can't afford a lawyer. Maine does not have a such an office but instead has a court appointed attorney system. That means that certain attorneys have agreed to accept criminal cases which the court assigned to them.
1963 ? The United States Supreme Court decides Gideon v. Wainwright, ruling that the Sixth Amendment creates a right to court appointed counsel in felony cases in all criminal proceedings.
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts. Following the decision, Gideon was given another trial with an appointed lawyer and was acquitted of the charges.
In Gideon v. Wainwright, the U.S. Supreme Court held that this means the State must provide an attorney to any criminal defendant who cannot afford to hire one.
MAINE PRIMARILY RELIES ON PRIVATE ATTORNEYS CONTRACTED TO PROVIDE COUNSEL ON A CASE-BY- CASE BASIS. THE STATE JUST HIRED IT'S FIRST PUBLIC DEFENDERS LAST YEAR. THIS SETTLEMENT REQUIRES THE STATE TO IMPOSE CAPS ON CASELOADS SO LAWYERS HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME FOR THEIR CLIENTS.
In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution requires the states to provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants charged with serious offenses who cannot afford lawyers themselves. The case began with the 1961 arrest of Clarence Earl Gideon.