Maine

Judge who cut bail for man linked to later fatal arson had cited his right to counsel

Updated: A judge in Maine is being blamed for reducing bail for a man who was later shot and killed in a standoff with police on Saturday after he allegedly set a fire that killed a person.

Jun 17, 2024 3:31 PM CDT

Lowered bar pass cut scores mean better bar pass rates in 4 states

Of the five states that lowered the minimum score required for passing the bar last year, four of them had increases in their February 2024 bar passage rates, according to the latest data compiled by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

May 7, 2024 10:23 AM CDT

Citing mootness, Supreme Court tosses case of disability law tester who ‘singlehandedly generated a circuit split’

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed as moot a case of a disability law tester and directed a federal appeals court to vacate the opinion in her case.

Dec 5, 2023 11:04 AM CST

Lawyer suspended for trying to attend 2 online CLE programs at once

A lawyer’s Maine law license has been suspended after he tried to get continuing legal education credit for attending online programs that happened at the same time.

Sep 19, 2023 3:27 PM CDT

25 federal district courts have always had white judges

Twenty-five out of 94 federal district courts have never had a judge of color, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis.

Sep 5, 2023 12:36 PM CDT

Maine’s top court affirms suspension of lawyer who asked staffer to take his CLE classes

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed a one-year suspension of an attorney who asked his assistant to take his continuing legal education classes.

Aug 28, 2023 10:50 AM CDT

Is dismissal bid effort to keep ADA ‘gravy train’ running? Tester urges SCOTUS to drop her case

A Florida woman who tests hotel websites for compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act is seeking to dismiss all of her pending cases, including one pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Aug 1, 2023 2:45 PM CDT

‘Desperate for lawyers,’ Maine considers alternative path to law license

Maine lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow aspiring lawyers to skip law school if they study under a supervising attorney for two years.

Apr 11, 2023 9:29 AM CDT

Lawyer accused of relying on staffer to take CLE classes gets sanction reprieve if he accepts indigent cases

A solo practitioner in Maine may find it difficult to comply with the terms of an ethics sanction imposed for relying on his assistant to take his continuing legal education classes.

Oct 27, 2022 9:05 AM CDT

Disability law ‘tester’ can sue hotel, despite no intentions of staying there, 1st Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has ruled that a disabled person has standing to sue a hotel for failing to provide accessibility information, even though she does not intend to stay there.

Oct 12, 2022 9:37 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: This SCOTUS term moved the law ‘dramatically in a conservative direction’

The U.S. Supreme Court's October 2021 term was one of the momentous in history. The only analogy I can think of is 1937 for its dramatic changes in constitutional law. This is the first full term with Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the high court, and we saw the enormous effects of having a 6-3 conservative majority.

Jul 7, 2022 8:46 AM CDT

Supreme Court sees ‘discrimination against religion,’ strikes down state ban on aid to religious schools

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Tuesday that Maine violated the free exercise clause when it banned state tuition assistance at schools that teach religion but not at most other private schools.

Jun 21, 2022 11:51 AM CDT

Maine will hire its first public defenders to aid struggling indigent defense system

Maine, the last state without public defenders, will soon deploy five of them after Democratic Gov. Janet T. Mills signed a bill earlier this month to create a rural public defenders unit.

May 19, 2022 11:24 AM CDT

Law firm earned $6.8M for indigent defense since 2016, according to state’s overbilling suit

A lawyer who was once the highest-paid public defense lawyer in Maine is facing a state lawsuit contending that she and her law firm misrepresented the hours that they worked on behalf of indigent defendants.

Dec 13, 2021 11:36 AM CST

Weekly Briefs: Emmett Till probe closed; Black couple’s suit says appraisal changed with pretend white homeowner

DOJ closes Emmett Till investigation The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its reopened investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black youth tortured and shot in Mississippi after he was accused of making sexual advances toward a white woman in her store. The woman had testified…

Dec 10, 2021 3:17 PM CST