Today, I testified for the first time before the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife - not exactly a committee that hears from the ACLU on a regular basis. We opposed two separate bills that would drastically increase criminal penalties for introducing certain types of fish into Maine waters. Later this week, we will oppose another bill that proposes a new crime for the unlawful possession of ruffed grouse.
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It’s been 50 years since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963. But according to census data, women still earn, on average, just 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, and women of color take home even less. There are many causes for this unacceptable wage gap, but what makes it especially difficult to fix is that in many workplaces employees can be fired if they simply try to find out how their pay stacks up against coworkers.
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Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation. This week, we bring you highlights from the national ACLU Blog of Rights.

What’s Wrong With CISPA | continue reading

Our colleagues at the ACLU National Prison Project have written a powerful blog post about the torture of a prisoner in Maine. It is worth reading, and the video is difficult to watch but powerful. Here in Maine, the incident has been the subject of on-going reporting by David Hench of the Portland Press Herald.
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Take action now to bring our laws up to speed with advancing technology! Our privacy laws haven’t been updated since 1986 – that’s before the World Wide Web, before we all carried cell phones, before we used email to communicate on a daily basis.
 
TAKE ACTION TODAY!
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Saturday was a beautiful and sunny day here in Southern Maine, but I spent it inside. 

I had the opportunity to present a "know your rights" training to a group of students at Cape Elizabeth High School who were involved with their Gay, Straight and Transgender Alliance (GSTA). Because it was a small group, I had the privilege of sharing some of my own personal story with the students present. 
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If you’ve never heard of Myriad Genetics, now might be the time to become acquainted. Myriad is a molecular diagnostic company, and they own part of your body. More specifically, they own patents on two human genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2, both of which are associated with inherited risk of breast and ovarian cancer. We all have these genes, but people with certain mutations are much more likely to experience cancer in their lifetimes.
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Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.

Transgender Athletes: | continue reading