Living with the consequences of Maine's public defense crisis: A view from the inside

Colter Cross is currently incarcerated at Maine State Prison and serving a 15-month sentence. Through years of repeated contact with Maine’s criminal courts, he has witnessed the effects of an overburdened and under-resourced public defender system. Writing from inside, he documents how these systemic failures undermine constitutional rights and destabilize families across the state.

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By Margaret Adams Parker, 1988

I want to start off by introducing myself. My name is Colter Cross. I am currently an inmate at the Maine State Prison. I have been in and out of jail my whole life for one thing or another. I am currently in college, which is amazing considering the fact that I’m in prison. I am currently serving a 15-month sentence for driving after revocation. As you can imagine, I have a lot of firsthand experience with the public defender system here in Maine. This is just some of what we deal with going through the court system, and it is a major problem that is only getting worse.

The public defender system is flawed here in Maine for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons the system is flawed is that there are far more people in need of representation than there are public defenders available. This adds to congestion within the judicial system, with cases needing representation but no one available to provide it. This violates some of our most basic rights afforded to us by the Constitution of the United States of America. These violations are just some of the injustices that occur as a byproduct of a faulty public defender system that has little to no meaningful state or local government oversight, which in my opinion can be disastrous when it comes to the quality of representation received, how timely that representation is provided, and whether rights are violated along the way. I feel like the public defender system in the state of Maine operates like the Wild West within our current judicial system.

Which leads me to ask: is the current system truly set up for public defenders to fully represent people to the extent the law allows while also upholding proper ethics and professional standards? Can you honestly answer with a solid, wholehearted yes to that question? I’ll go ahead and give you my answer, which is a big, fat NO. Rights such as the right to a speedy trial are almost non-existent. There is, and has been, nothing speedy about going to trial in the state of Maine for as far back as I can remember. I was told by my lawyer that they don’t do speedy trials anymore, if you can believe that. How can something that is law, and one of our constitutional rights, simply not be done? This alone is a violation of our Sixth Amendment rights.

Many of us unfortunately sit in jail far longer than necessary due to a failing public defender system that is under-supervised, overburdened, and past its breaking point. In many cases, we don’t even have lawyers appointed to us for critical stages such as bail hearings or requests to amend bail. This fails people tremendously by denying us something guaranteed under the Constitution through the Sixth Amendment. These are our fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. These are families being torn apart and displaced. By displaced, I mean that many of us lose our jobs simply because we are sitting in jail waiting for representation to argue bail. This makes it extremely difficult for people to bail out quickly enough to keep their jobs, which is how you and I provide for ourselves and our families. When that opportunity is taken away, it often leads people down a different path. Instead of making bail and returning to work, people are left struggling to support themselves and their families.

As a result, people who should be at work aren’t. Instead, they are out in our communities committing crimes. Crimes like stealing food from grocery or convenience stores, clothes from department stores, or even breaking into homes just to make enough money to survive and feed their families. These crimes of desperation become more common under these conditions. This is especially harmful to people who are already impoverished, low-income, mentally ill, disabled, or veterans who lose their jobs because they were unable to secure a bail hearing or bail amendment. People resort to these actions because of a basic human instinct: survival. When pushed into these circumstances, many people act out of that instinct simply to survive.

Unfortunately, all of this stems from Maine’s troubled and broken public defender system. This also affects single parents, both mothers and fathers, who are jailed while someone else is forced to care for their children as they wait for a chance at bail. We are supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, but in Maine today it often feels like the opposite—guilty until proven innocent. This is especially true for people with prior records or those who are already systematically disadvantaged. These individuals are the most vulnerable to being harmed by our criminal justice system until meaningful reform takes place. Without change, these problems will continue to grow and will keep destroying families across Maine.

There are also people who technically have public defenders assigned to them but receive little to no actual representation. Many public defenders are so overwhelmed by excessive caseloads that clients cannot even reach them. My girlfriend is one of those people. She has been calling her lawyer for two months, leaving voicemails and sending emails, all without a response. She has court in a few days and has never once spoken to or met her lawyer, despite being appointed one back in August. It is now December as I write this.

She is just one of hundreds of people across Maine experiencing the same thing. I personally dealt with these same issues as far back as 2008, and it has only gotten worse. This is now the norm in Maine. People need to be able to communicate with their lawyers, understand where they stand legally, review the evidence against them, and explore possible options for their defense.

The reality is that we don’t receive anything close to quality legal representation. In many cases, we don’t even receive fair representation given how the public defender system in Maine is structured and currently operating. This is unjust, especially when compared to the rights we are supposed to be afforded under the Constitution versus the “rights” we actually experience here. Even basic standards of legal practice that should be routine are often not met in Maine today.

Typically, you may speak to your lawyer once or twice for five to ten minutes if you’re lucky, and then you’re immediately pressured to take a plea deal. This has become the norm. Many people are pushed into plea deals even when they are not guilty, and many of these so-called deals are not deals at all. Public defenders often pressure clients to accept these offers on the spot, and people agree because they know they won’t realistically have the chance to discuss their case in depth later. This comes directly from my own experiences dealing with public defenders in Maine.

It often feels like these practices are used to lighten caseloads, among other reasons, although I can’t say for certain. But when you’re on the receiving end of this kind of representation, that is exactly how it feels. With proper time to meet, talk, and examine the facts of a case, many people could achieve better outcomes or even prove their innocence. Instead, outcomes suffer because attorneys are overwhelmed or unavailable.

In my experience, for every one good public defender there are many who are not effective—often through no fault of their own, but because of crushing caseloads and pressure. Some attorneys manage better than others, but many are stretched so thin that only a handful of cases receive real attention while the rest are pushed aside. This is where the system begins to fail. The current public defender structure does not adequately protect the basic rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution.

Another major challenge arises when individuals are boarded out to jails in counties three or four hours away from their home county. This distance makes meaningful representation extremely difficult. Lawyers rarely have the time to travel hours each way to meet a client for a short visit, especially when dozens of people are boarded out across the state. As a result, those housed far from their home counties often receive even less attention than others. At best, we may get a brief phone call, if we’re lucky, to prepare for court.

Even then, many of us are pressured to accept plea deals without reviewing evidence or discussing possible defenses. Whether guilty or innocent, everyone deserves representation that meets the highest legal standards. Instead, many people accept plea deals without proper counsel or sufficient time to prepare. I have a loved one currently dealing with open cases who was appointed a public defender. On paper, this sounds fine. In reality, her lawyer failed to notify her of an upcoming court date—by phone, mail, or otherwise—despite knowing she was out on bail. She only found out because someone she knew happened to be in court that day and heard her name called. Had she missed that date, a warrant could have been issued, potentially costing her her job, time with her child, and her ability to continue college. She has since tried repeatedly to contact her lawyer, without success. These stories are common inside Maine’s jails and prisons.

In truth, the system is failing us both as individuals and as a society. People should not be left without meaningful representation, regardless of guilt or innocence. We need public defenders who can fully engage with their clients and the resources necessary to do the work required under the Sixth Amendment. Only then can people in Maine receive the representation they are constitutionally guaranteed.

Public defenders should also be actively engaging with prosecutors to secure the best possible outcomes for their clients. Many people simply made mistakes, and others were unlucky enough to get caught. Regardless, everyone is entitled to the same rights under the law. Yet people who can afford private attorneys often receive far better outcomes for the same charges. This undermines the principle that the law applies equally to everyone. Representation through the public defender system should reflect that same equality.

There is also the issue of attempting to replace ineffective counsel. Many people are told they cannot fire their public defender, even when legitimate concerns exist. I personally wrote numerous letters and made countless calls to appointed attorneys, only to have them appear shortly before sentencing and push plea deals without ever discussing the case or possible defenses. Clients are told, “This is the best you’ll get,” without any meaningful exploration of alternatives. Many people accept this as their fate, either because they don’t know better or because they are worn down by the system’s failures.

In conclusion, the public defender system currently in place in Maine is broken and failing the people it is supposed to serve. If this continues, we will keep denying individuals their Sixth Amendment rights and tearing families apart in the process. This system must be reformed immediately to become effective, efficient, lawful, and constitutionally sound. Lower-income and systematically disadvantaged people do not deserve to be subjected to this level of injustice on a daily basis. What is happening is wrong, unlawful, and must change.