Today, the Bangor Daily News ran an excellent opinion editorial about one of our cases, truly a life or death lawsuit. Hans Bruns is a 65 year old legal immigrant from Germany, living in Fort Fairfield. In 2010, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, adenoid cystic carcinoma, but late last year, the Maine State Legislature eliminated healthcare coverage for Hans and approximately 500 other legal immigrants in Maine who had previously received MaineCare coverage.
The ACLU of Maine and Maine Equal Justice Partners filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of Hans. As we argue in the lawsuit, it is discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution to discriminate against a class of people based on their national origin and status as immigrants. Long-standing court precedents have ruled that immigrants are protected under the Constitution.
As today's op-ed states, this is a moral and ethical issue too:
"For Bruns and others like him, the decision in this case could very well mean life or death. Action by the Maine State Legislature could prevent this protracted legal battle and provide rapid assistance to those like Bruns. In the 18th century, Samuel Johnson said, 'A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.' That test remains as paramount today as it was then. This is a metric of our worth as a people, one that extends not only to those of us who were born here, or who are citizens, but to those of us who come to Maine from away."