If you’re passionate about the issues we work on and are looking for ways to get involved, you’re in luck! The next couple months are chock-full of events going on all around the state. Many are associated with the “YES on 1” campaign, but not all. To stay up to speed, keep an eye on our “Upcoming Events” list on the upper-right corner of our website. Here’s a sampling of what’s going on just in the next couple weeks:
CONFERENCE ON AGING PRISONERS: On Wednesday, the ACLU of Maine is co-sponsoring a conference at Maine State Prison on end-of-life issues for elderly prisoners. We’re excited to hear from national experts, prisoner officials, and inmates themselves about health care in the prison and the work of the Maine Hospice Council, which is putting on the event. Look for a blog post later this week recapping what we learned from the conference.
COMMON GROUND FAIR: If you’re planning on going to the Common Ground Country Fair this weekend in Unity, stop by our booth! The ACLU of Maine will be there all three days in the Social Political Action tent. Come by and say hello. We’ll have free literature -- and stickers! -- so don’t be a stranger. Also, on Saturday at noon, Shenna Bellows will be giving a talk on “Hot Topics in Civil Liberties.” This is a great chance to hear about the most current issues the ACLU is working on, and to ask questions of our executive director.
HOUSE PARTY FOR “YES on 1”: On Saturday night, we’re hosting a “Yes on 1” house party in Camden, highlighting our work to create the Republicans United For Marriage coalition. Shenna will provide an update on the campaign and we’ll also hear from Stacey Fitts, one of the Republicans who changed his mind and is voting “YES” this November. If you would like more information or want to RSVP for the event, contact Jill at jbarkley@aclumaine.org.
“CHEERS TO EQUALITY”: If you can’t make it to the house party on Saturday, come join us next Tuesday at Brian Boru in Portland for "Cheers to Equality," a fundraiser to help ensure that Maine votes "YES" on Question 1 this November. For more information, check out the event page on Facebook.
VOTING RIGHTS HEARINGS: If you’ve been reading our blog lately, you know that the Commission to Study the Conduct of Elections in Maine has been holding public hearings all around the state to look into our election system. We’ve been at every one so far, and we’d love to see you there too. Next Thursday the Commission will be in Farmington, and the following Thursday they’ll be in Lewiston. For a complete listing of dates and locations, check out the hearing schedule here.
The next couple weeks will be quite busy – and October is looking just as crowded. Stay tuned to ACLUMaine.org for more ways to get involved in the pressing civil liberties issues of our day – and we’ll hope to see you at one (or more) of these events in the weeks to come!
