By Michael Shepherd - May 10, 2023
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📷 Justice Robert Murray listens to the prosecutor give descriptions of child pornography possessed by former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler during a hearing at the Hancock County court in Ellsworth on Thursday. (BDN photo by Linda Coan O'Kresik)

Good morning from Augusta. We expect an updated spending plan from Gov. Janet Mills today. Legislative committees are also in. Here's their agenda.

What we're watching today

Lawmakers try to force speedier trials, but it's not going to be easy. A massive court backlog has been one of Maine's biggest public policy side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the state's top judge called the judicial system "frail" and said courts may not be able to touch backlogs by 2028, even with new judges set to be appointed.

It is leading to concessions in cases, with the district attorney handling the child pornography case of former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler saying backlogs were a factor in his plea deal. Lawmakers recently raised pay for lawyers in a long-embattled system that handles court appointments for low-income defendants after years of shrinking rosters.

Among the bigger effects are on the civil liberties of defendants. The state is already facing a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine over the indigent legal system, saying it has deprived people of their rights to speedy trials. The ACLU of Maine is also leading a bipartisan bill that would set trial deadlines based on the seriousness of the charges.

The measure, backed by Rep. Matt Moonen, D-Portland, who chairs the judiciary panel, would force the court system to hold trials six months from first appearances in felony cases and 45 days in misdemeanor cases, with some exceptions including agreements between prosecutors and defense teams.

If trials do not happen by the deadline, cases would be dismissed under the proposal. Defense attorneys pushing for the measure say that is really the only way to enforce the new deadlines and clear backlogs of thousands of cases."

"Something has to change, and this bill would do it," Augusta-based attorney Walter McKee, who defended Cutler, wrote in testimony for the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.

The effectiveness of any effort to speed up cases is really on the Legislature and other levels of government that are going to have to support the court system if it is to plow through the backlog. A commission that advises the Legislature on legal issues criticized the bill for "unrealistic deadlines" and noted police, court systems and prosecutors would need more staff to comply.

Of course, this means more money. Moonen's bill has a diverse list of sponsors from progressive Democrats to Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, a libertarian-leaning conservative. It may show a willingness for the Legislature to solve this problem, but it is going to take a complex strategy.

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News and notes

📷 Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, presides over Gov. Janet Mills' second inauguration on Jan. 4, 2023, in Augusta. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett)

🍼 Top Democrats' signature childcare push gets real.

◉ Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, and Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, will headline a noon news conference on Wednesday ahead of hearings on their two bills aimed at bolstering the crucial childcare sector, which has long relied on low-wage workers and has been wracked by labor shortages that keep parents out of the workforce.

◉ Jackson's main bill on the topic looks to expand public preschool programs across the state, while Vitelli wants to soup up existing childcare subsidies. Lawmakers of both parties are on both bills, while a wide coalition of business, public safety and other groups are pushing the Legislature to do more.

◉ Mills' stance on these measures is going to be key to working them through the Legislature. Conservatives led by the Maine Policy Institute have long beaten a drum against perceived overregulation of the childcare field. Republicans may try to inject those ideas into discussions on the topic.

🇨🇳 A Maine senator joins a top Republican to confront China.

◉ Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, released a resolution this week No. 2 Senate Republican John Thune of South Dakota that pressures the World Trade Organization to change rules that allow China to call itself as a developing county for advantages over U.S. manufacturers.

◉ It is a repeat of their similar 2021 resolution, but it comes after King has been outspoken on other issues revolving around the rival power, including an effort that could lead to a national ban on TikTok if the social media company's Chinese owner does not sell it.

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What we're reading

💥 Maine's delegation had mostly restrained reactions to a civil verdict against former President Donald Trump.

💰 Mills wants at least $1 million more for a new child welfare plan.

📢 The family of a Down East man says his unsolved killing was drug-related.

📰 Maine's last alternative journalist does not care what we think of him.

⛺ Portland prepares to dismantle a large homeless camp.

🟠 We run down the changes to the 2023 moose hunting season. Here's your soundtrack.

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