News & Commentary

Two news stories emerged this week that highlight the importance of Title IX beyond its ability to help fund women’s sports.  

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As you may have heard, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments this morning regarding the constitutionality of an extremely broad provision of the USA PATRIOT Act that restricts the ability of advocacy groups and charities to do work overseas. The case, Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, challenges the criminalization of expert advice, training, service, or assistance "derived from scientific [or] technical . . . knowledge" to a designated foreign terrorist organization.  Everyone involved in the case--the Attorney General, the Humanitarian Law Project, the numerous amicus curiae (some represented by the ACLU)--emphatically oppose terrorism.  But some of these organizations would like to engage in dialogue and training with designated organizations, to help provide humanitarian aid, to train in peaceful conflict resolution, and to assist with human rights advocacy.  The statute at issue is so broad that attempting to convince violent groups to adopt non-violent strategies for social change could subject a person to 15 years in federal prison. This case was originally brought by two American citizens, Professor Ralph Fertig and Dr. Nagalingam Jeyaligam, and by an organization headed by Prof. Fertig, the Humanitarian Law Project, hoping for legal approval of coordination with two organizations on the U.S. designated list of terrorist organizations: the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eslan.  Lower Courts have struck down some provisions of the criminal statute at issue, and now the Supreme Court will resolve whether that was proper.  The heart of the argument today involves whether the government can criminalize pure speech that advocates lawful nonviolent activities.  The government will argue that, in the name of fighting terrorism, they are justified in doing just that.  The Humanitarian Law Project will argue that this provision, and the government's theory of the case, justify imprisonment for submitting an amicus brief in federal court, petitioning Congress or the United Nations for legal reform, or speaking to the media in support of a designated organization.  The First Amendment (which, we just learned, protects the rights of corporations to contribute to political campaigns) must also protect those core speech activities as well. Humanitarian Law Project will be ably represented this morning by David Cole, of Georgetown University and the Center for Constitutional Rights.  Many of you probably remember Prof. Cole's keynote speech at the Scolnick Awards dinner in 2006--a very memorable evening.

I often tell people we have no permanent friends...or permanent enemies.  We are partnering with our former opponents, Mark Mutty of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine and Bob Emrich of the Maine Jeremiah Project, to support the reduction of use and abuse of solitary confinement of prisoners here in Maine.  We're doing that because the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment is rooted in a moral view that says everyone, even prisoners, deserves to be treated as human beings -- with dignity.  In Maine, we have a special management unit where prisoners are "segregated" from the general population for lengths of time that vary from days to months to even over a year.  Make no mistake -- segregation is solitary confinement.  Yesterday I spoke in Steuben to a crowd of ACLU of MAINE members from Hancock and Washington counties.  I talked about Guantanamo and the prisoners who continue to languish there without charge or trial, prisoners of war in a war without forseeable end.  There's a relationship between our country's acceptance of prisoners kept for years without due process and subjected to inhumane treatment at Guantanamo and our acceptance of the way we treat prisoners in our own backyard. If you are troubled by the practice of solitary confinement, please join us and the churches in a People of Conscience Day of Action in Augusta tomorrow, Tuesday, February 23 at 9 am in the Welcome Center of the Statehouse.  All people of good conscience are welcome.  Featured speakers will include:

On Wednesday afternoon, I attended the public hearing for LD 1611, the bill that will limit solitary confinement in Maine prisons.  For nine hours, the Criminal Justice Committee heard from both sides about the bill.  Proponents included advocates, clergy, activists, affected constituents, former prisoners.

Our country recently witnessed the one year anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, more commonly referred to as the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. The law provides legal recourse for women who are paid less money for working the same job as a man.

The hearing begins at 1:00pm today!

I've written before about how technology has compromised our privacy (think how smart phones, web browsing, facebook, e-z pass, credit cards, gps devices, lo-jack, on-star, RFID chips, traffic cameras, etc. can be used to track our activities, travel, and communications). 

Next Wednesday, the Maine legislature's Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety will hold a public hearing at 1:00 on a bill to limit the use of solitary confinement in the Maine State Prison.  This bill is one of the ACLU of MAINE's biggest priorities this session, and we have become quite passionate about this issue.