Still smiling about marriage equality?  Maine wasn't the only state to have a significant win at the ballot box last week.  The ACLU worked on ballot initiatives involving not only the freedom to marry, but also medical marijuana, abortion, voter ID, the DREAM Act, and criminal justice.  And we won big!  Check out this interactive map detailing some of the civil liberties wins.

Election 2012:  Civil Liberties Map
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“The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men."

"Marriage is one of the 'basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival.”

Those are the words of the Supreme Court in 1967 ruling in the ACLU case of Loving v. Virginia that interracial couples should not be denied the freedom to marry.
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On November 1, the ACLU of Maine joined our our Yes on 1 coalition partners at a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at Monument Square.  Below is a copy of my remarks to the crowd.

We’ve heard a lot in the last few months about consequences to voting, so I thought I'd share the ACLU's views on that here.
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I love a good love story, especially a feminist love story.  Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a great love story.  Alice Walker said, "There is no book more important to me than this one."  The narrative moves swiftly, while at the same time compelling the reader to pause and ponder.  Ideas like:  "There are years that ask questions and years that answer."  Followed by questions: "Did marriage end the cosmic loneliness of the unmated? | continue reading

Tonight, Maine Watch will air a program about electronic medical records.  Maine hospitals and doctors are moving quickly to adopt electronic medical record systems, and many Mainers are now in a statewide health information database, HealthInfoNet.  Tonight's program explores both potential benefits and risks in the rapidly changing world of health information.  I went on the program to talk about consumer privacy, choice, and non-discrimination. 
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If I call friends in Panama from my time in the Peace Corps there, my call may be listened to by American authorities.  If the ACLU of Maine calls a client in El Salvador, a man who was beaten by jail guards when he was imprisoned for immigration violations in Portland, our calls may be recorded and reviewed.  When families call their loved ones serving in Afghanistan, their calls may be transcribed and circulated. 
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There were more people than time at last night's hearing on voting rights at the Portland Public Library.  Speaker after speaker urged the Elections Commissions not to change Maine voting laws without a very good reason.  So many people testified against controversial voter ID requirements that Chairman John Atwood requested an end to testimony against voter ID, looking for perspectives on other issues.  Proponents of early voting and absentee voting talked about ways to make it easier, not harder, for people to vote.  Kennebunk Deputy Town Clerk Merton Brown urged the | continue reading

I chair the Public Records Exceptions Subcommittee of the Maine Right to Know Advisory Committee, and we met today for the second time this summer.  We are charged by the legislature with the task of reviewing every single exception to Maine's Right to Know or Freedom of Access Act in statute over a ten year period.  This year we are tasked with examining 91 confidentiality provisions in Maine law that keep information in the hands of various governmental agencies secret from the public.
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