Here are some statements by Valerie Stanfill, the Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court, on the State of the Judiciary:
The sobering fact is that no matter how hard we work – and we do - we are not providing timely and safe resolution even in priority cases, those involving liberty, families, and children, much less the plethora of other cases.
Our trial courts spend hours every week just trying to cajole attorneys into taking cases. I hope that adding some public defenders will help, but it will be a while before we really see results. And in the meantime, I fear the system will indeed collapse.
