We are members of Students for the Sixth Amendment, a University of Maine Law student organization advocating for an equitable indigent criminal defense system in Maine. The opinions shared in this article are those solely of Students for the Sixth Amendment and do not reflect the views of any academic institution or employer.

In light of the events of the past month, we feel compelled to add our voice to the latest dialogue surrounding public defense in Maine. Maine’s response to the recent tragedy in Auburn and the ongoing Sixth Amendment crisis will have reverberating effects on how we recruit future generations of criminal attorneys and how the state treats indigent clients.

We share in the shock and sadness with the community over the violence and loss of life, and our hearts are with the victims and their families.

Here, we feel that it is important to state that one person’s conduct does not represent that of all people accused of crimes. We fear that the current climate will be used to justify denying people accused of crimes their Sixth Amendment rights. We fear that judges will enact harsh bail requirements, and that defendants will continue to experience unlawful detention in violation of the right to a speedy trial under both the Maine and U.S constitutions.

We urge our legal community to react to the current issues in our state not from a place of fear but with collective respect for all people’s fundamental constitutional rights.

While it is undeniable that there are not enough attorneys in Maine to meet the current need, we must remain steadfast in observing our constitutional obligations during this crisis. As the Supreme Court stated in Gideon v. Wainright, “[t]he right of one charged with crime to counsel may not be deemed fundamental and essential to fair trials in some countries, but it is in ours.”

The law requires us to respect the fundamental Sixth Amendment and due process rights of all criminal defendants: Counsel must be provided to those who cannot afford it in a timely manner.

This crisis has been ongoing for decades and did not happen overnight. It does not rest in the hands of a singular organization or person, and blaming individual people does not propel solutions forward. We care deeply about the future of public defense in Maine; many of our members hope to practice criminal defense in Maine upon graduation. As students, we have written to the Legislature and testified before our elected officials about public defense in Maine.

But when elected officials and members of the judiciary lay the blame of our current crisis on the shoulders of the defense bar, it creates a significant disincentive to pursue a career in indigent defense in Maine. How people talk about and deal with these challenges will either compel or repel future attorneys into this field.

We are also concerned with the lack of opportunity and structure for law students to specialize in criminal defense in Maine.

While there is a robust structure in place for students to specialize in prosecution, there is not a comparable path for students who wish to practice criminal defense. Maine Law and the Maine legal community must allocate resources to support the next generation of criminal defense attorneys. We are encouraged to see the beginnings of a formal public defense system in Maine and hope to see continued expansion of public defender offices throughout the state.

As law students, we are the future of this profession. How Maine chooses to move forward will create the criminal justice system we will inherit. We hope that recent events motivate Maine to pause and reflect on how we can move towards a more equitable justice system, one rooted in the constitutional rights that members of the bar vow to uphold.

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