Today, the ACLU of Maine joined our partners, EqualityMaine, EngageMaine, GLAD, and Maine Women's Lobby in launching a campaign to legalize civil marriage for same sex couples in 2012.  If successful, we would be making history by being the first state to pass marriage equality via referendum.  Below are the comments I made to the more than 100 supporters packed into the Welcome Center of the State House today:
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I spent today in Augusta lobbying against LD 199, a bill that would make it harder for Maine citizens to vote by requiring a photo ID.  The good news is that lawmakers seem poised to abandon a voter ID.  Unfortunately, the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs did not vote today to kill LD 199.  Instead, they tabled the measure to allow time to discuss a possible "study."  That's because the Secretary of State reported new allegations of possible vo | continue reading

Remember the adage:  dissent is patriotic?  Unfortunately, it seems that dissent is only patriotic as long as it doesn't make us uncomfortable.  As winter begins, government entities, including here in Maine, are trying to shut the Occupy Wall Street movement down. 
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60%.  Mainers overwhelmingly endorsed Election Day Registration today.  Voters in small towns and large in every county in the state cast a vote of confidence in the security and integrity of our election systems.  Maine has enjoyed Election Day Registration for almost forty years since it was first passed in 1973 by a Republican-controlled legislature.  Election Day Registration, or "Same | continue reading

Today OneMaine endorsed the Yes on 1/Protect Maine Votes campaign.  OneMaine Board Chair Eliot Cutler said publicly, “I personally support keeping Election Day Voter Registration, and I’m delighted that the OneMaine board of advisors has decided to throw the full support of our organization behind this effort.  Maine has a long tradition of citizen participation in state and local go | continue reading

Today is Banned Websites Awareness Day.  Banned Sites Day is a new addition to an annual tradition that is Banned Books Week, celebrating the First Amendment and the freedom to read.  Censorship is not limited to bracelets or books it seems.  Increasingly, schools are filtering out websites including valid, educational resources.  Web f | continue reading

Last night a likely innocent man, Troy Davis, was executed by the State of Georgia. 

His words give me hope, even as his death leaves me heartbroken:

“The struggle for justice doesn’t end with me. This struggle is for all the Troy Davises who came before me and all the ones who will come after me. I’m in good spirits and I’m prayerful and at peace. But I will not stop fighting until I’ve taken my last breath. Georgia is prepared to snuff out the life of an innocent man.”
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This week the ACLU of Maine stood with our seventeen coalition partners from across the state to launch the "Yes on 1" campaign to restore same day voter registration.  We talked about our more than 1,000 volunteers from every county in the state who will work with us to Get Out the Vote for Yes on 1.  When the press conference had concluded, our opponents (who crashed the grassroots press conference) took  the microphone.  Then came the buzzwords from our opponents weaving a trite but complicated fiction.
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