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Good morning. It’s Sunday, June 16.

The Maine Monitor has been investigating the indigent defense crisis for years now. Until late last year, Maine was the only state with no public defender system, instead paying private attorneys on a case-by-case basis to take clients. 

Many of these attorneys had serious infractions on their records, including sex crimes and felonies. Defendants paid the price, languishing in jail for months without being assigned an attorney or being assigned counsel that wasn’t up to the job.

This week, reporter Josh Keefe follows public defenders in the state’s first public defender’s office, which opened in Augusta late last year. The legislature has appropriated funding to open four more offices in Bangor, Caribou, Ellsworth and Lewiston, with the long-term goal of eventually taking on half of the state’s criminal cases.

They’ll have their work cut out for them: at most recent count, nearly 900 criminal cases were awaiting counsel.

Frayla Tarpinian, Maine’s first district defender and head of the office, told a room of public defenders in late May that she hoped that having all of the defenders in the room together would allow them to see patterns across the system, eventually creating a process that’s more protective of defendant’s rights.

And a note of congratulations to Samantha Hogan and the entire Maine Monitor team for winning the Livingston Award for Local Reporting this week for her investigation into Maine’s probate court system. The Livingston Awards are widely considered the most prestigious honor for a young journalist, and we’re very proud!

“Samantha Hogan’s multi-year investigation into an alarming lack of oversight within Maine’s probate courts is a shining example of local journalism at its finest,” said Kara Swisher, an award-winning tech journalist at New York Magazine and a Livingston judge. 

— Kate

Six months in, Maine’s first public defenders’ office talks strategy

The office represents indigent defendants and is just one part of a statewide effort to solve Maine’s indigent defense crisis.

“I think we are fighting a cultural battle here.” Read this story by Josh Keefe.

Mainers unable to find caregivers for all authorized home care hours: One care coordination agency had more than 750 people approved for home care who had no help at all, with demand expected to grow. Read this story by Rose Lundy.

Second ‘radio hour’ covers opioid settlements, dams, child welfare: The Maine Monitor Radio Hour is a monthly program in which reporters and editors from The Maine Monitor join WERU host Amy Browne for a discussion about the newsroom’s recent reporting. Given this a listen.

Here’s what to know about Maine’s latest emissions inventory: We read Maine’s latest emissions inventory so you don’t have to. Read this story by Annie Ropeik.

Dover-Foxcroft rejects removal, votes to maintain town dam: The town now has to hastily develop engineering plans to restore the dam and meet federal standards, an $8 million cost. Read this story by Emmett Gartner.

Samantha Hogan wins Livingston Award: The Monitor investigation into Maine's probate courts was heralded as "a shining example of local journalism at its finest.” Read this story.

Maine’s Part-Time Court

Maine’s probate courts, responsible for adult guardianships, stand alone. Their judges are part-time and elected, and they operate independently from each other and the state supreme court.

Calls to overhaul the state's probate courts have stalled for half a century, leaving some of the state's most vulnerable people at risk. 

Read this series by Samantha Hogan 

Know of a story that we should be digging into? Send it to our newsroom. 

The Maine Monitor is a publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit news organization. We believe news is a public good and keep our news free to access. We have no paywall and do not charge for our newsletters. If you value the reporting we do for Maine, please consider making a donation! We cannot do this reporting without your support.