News & Commentary

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.

Last week, I watched a short film by The House I Live In director Eugene Jarecki titled Just Say No …to the War on Drugs. In the 2 minute and 30 second film, Jarecki lays out the failure of the War on Drugs, its enormous costs – both fiscal cost to taxpayers and human cost to our communities, and its ultimate failure to curb and deter drug abuse whatsoever.

Updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation:

Our partner profiles highlight the broad range of individuals and organizations we work with to advance and protect the rights of all people in Maine.

To me, the term "debtors' prison" immediately conjures images of 19th century England and of something found in the pages of Charles Dickens novels. However, as a recent special segment by NPR revealed, de facto debtors' prisons – where we imprison people for failure to pay fines – are increasingly common practice throughout the United States today.

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.

Last Saturday we marked the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark civil rights case that ruled state-sanctioned public school segregation is unconstitutional. In a friend-of-the-court brief in that case, the ACLU and partnering organizations argued that “segregation and equality cannot co-exist. That which is unequal in fact cannot be equal in law.”

Today, the Washington Post published an article title Ex-Cons But Still Barred, looking at the city of Chicago’s reconsideration of restrictions on people with criminal records living in public housing.  

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.