Prisoner Assistance Clinic
Principal Investigator: Deirdre Smith, School of Law
Funder: Maine Bar Foundation
Project Period: January 2005 to January 2006
The Prisoner Assistance Clinic, started in January 2003, with the assistance of the Maine Bar Foundation and the Department of Corrections, is completing its second full year of operation. This grant is for a third year of funding from the Foundation to continue the work.
The Prisoner Assistance Clinic is a 3-credit course at the University of Maine School of Law. Students in the Prisoner Assistance Clinic provide civil legal services to prisoners in the state prison system and assess the unmet need for services. Up to five student attorneys and their faculty supervisors interview prisoners at the state prisons who have requested legal help with their civil cases (such as family law, consumer and debt cases, and the like). The students counsel the client and provide legal assistance on the spot. They also identify the prisoners that need extended representation and each student takes on a few cases that are within the Clinic´s geographical and financial guidelines. The Clinic asks clients for whom extended representation is provided to pay a $10 administrative fee to cover minor expenses incurred in their cases. If expenses exceed that amount, the client may be asked to cover those as well. However, no client is turned down for services if they cannot afford these expenses. If the faculty supervisor determines that the client cannot reasonably afford to pay any or all of the costs, they are waived. It is anticipated that few, if any, of the prison inmates could reasonably afford to pay any expenses. When necessary, cases are referred to the General Practice Clinic when space permits or out to the private bar to be handled on a pro bono or reduced fee basis.
The Clinic travels to the Maine Correctional Center for weekly intake. Intakes are also done at Long Creek Youth Development Center if requested. Other prison facilities are located outside the geographic reach of the Clinic, and intakes and counseling would be conducted by telephone, videoconference or computers as appropriate and available. With respect to extended representation, the Clinic can take on cases in courts in York, Cumberland, Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties. Occasionally students may take cases in the courts in Southern Oxford or Kennebec Counties as well. Cases in other parts of the state are referred, unless they can be reasonably handled without a court appearance in those areas.