Support Early Voting
At a hearing and press conference this week, the ACLU of Maine spoke in support of an early voting bill sponsored by Rep. Mike Shaw (D-Standish). Early voting would make voting easier for more qualified Mainers to cast a ballot, while at the same time easing the burden on clerks who currently have to open and cast a large number of absentee ballots on Election Day. MPBN had this coverage. Learn more about early voting here.
Learn More about Drones
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones, present a significant advancement towards a surveillance society, and public policy should be proactive in preventing their misuse by law enforcement. According to this Portland Press Herald article, the Federal Aviation Administration currently has about 327 active permits for flying drones and the FAA estimates that 10,000 drones could be aloft by 2020. Learn more here.
Stand with Bayli in Support of GSAs
Bayli Silberstein’s attempt to address the name-calling and bullying at her school has been met with a counterproductive response: following the Florida 8th grader’s attempt to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance, her school district has proposed banning all extracurricular clubs. Support Bayli by signing this petition.
Legalize Marijuana
The ACLU of Maine is endorsing a bill to legalize marijuana. We’re support legalization in part because a 40-year War on Drugs has driven our nation's addiction to incarceration. Furthermore, differences in drug use across race and socioeconomic status are nearly negligible (see here and here ), yet lower income people and people of color are arrested and jailed at substantially higher rates. The ACLU of Washington successfully supported legalization for similar reasons. Stay tuned in the upcoming year for ways in which you can be supportive.
See the press conference from the bill’s supporters below.
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