Maine Law Court to Hear Appeal in Public Defense Case

PORTLAND – Oral arguments will be held tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in an appeal in Robbins v. State of Maine. The State of Maine is claiming that it cannot be named as a defendant in the case, asserting it is shielded by sovereign immunity. The class action case began in 2022 and challenges Maine’s widespread denial of counsel to people accused of crimes.

The appeal before the Law Court stems from the Kennebec County Superior Court’s August 2024 denial of the State’s motion to dismiss, after the ACLU of Maine filed an amended complaint naming the State as a separate defendant.

In the August order, the superior court ruled that the ACLU of Maine could pursue its claims against the State, concluding that the constitutional obligation to provide counsel would “lose considerable meaning if the doctrine of sovereign immunity prohibited the Court from issuing a declaration as to whether the State was fulfilling a responsibility so integral to our constitutional framework.” Following a trial in January 2025, the superior court ruled that the state must provide continuous legal representation, among other orders.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright makes clear that the state is responsible for upholding the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. As the ACLU of Maine argued in its opening brief to the Law Court, “It is undisputed that the State of Maine, as a state, has an affirmative obligation under both the federal and Maine constitutions to provide lawyers to criminal defendants who cannot afford one. And it is undisputed that the State is failing to meet that fundamental constitutional obligation.”

The brief continues, noting that “the U.S. Supreme Court and the Maine constitution put the affirmative constitutional obligation to provide counsel on the State as an entity … The State cannot avoid a ruling that it has failed to meet its affirmative constitutional obligations by failing to assign specific officers the necessary authority and resources to implement those obligations.”

The Law Court heard arguments in a separate appeal in October 2025 concerning a superior court order finding the state responsible for widespread Sixth Amendment violations and ordering some people released from jail if they continued to be denied counsel.

Arguments will be presented by Jordan Bock of Goodwin Procter, LLP. The case was brought by the ACLU of Maine, Goodwin Procter, and Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios.

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, at 9:50 a.m.

Cumberland County Courthouse
205 Newbury St.
Portland, ME 04101

Arguments can be livestreamed here. A recording of the arguments will be available from the State of Maine Judicial Branch here. Information for media visiting the court can be found here.

Read more about the case and see relevant legal documents here.