News & Commentary

We always appreciate it when ACLU of MAINE members and friends send us material for this blog.  Today, Jim Burke, former ACLU of MAINE President, sent us this delightful nugget out of the Best of the Smothers Brothers.  Pat Paulsen on censorship in 1968:

Dear Santa,

You may have heard news over the past few weeks of President Obama’s plan to move detainees from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to Thomson, Illinois.  This plan seemingly fulfills Obama’s campaign promise to close the facilities that are an international embarrassment to the US. The off-shore facility that houses detainees allegedly associated with terrorism is rife with civil liberties violations, from indefinite detention without charge to use of torture to complete lack of due process.  As soon as Obama took office, he promised to close the detention center and restore the rule of law in America.

As my first year as the ACLU of MAINE lobbyist comes to an end, I find myself reflecting on the events of the previous legislative session.  While ultimately, we did not achieve marriage equality in Maine this year, I agree with Senator Dennis S. Damon, D-Hancock, sponsor of LD 1020 – “It’s not that we failed, it’s just that we haven’t succeeded yet.”  

It's difficult to talk about (let alone defend) the rights of sex offenders.  Much like terrorism, the threat these individuals pose is blown to ridiculous proportions.  Even worse, sex offenders are news even when there is no story.

Yesterday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued a positive significant decision on the law of search and seizure.  The case, Maine v. Sargent, involved a police search of a shaving kit in the passenger area of a car.  The police claimed that the driver had given permission for the police to conduct the search, while the driver claimed that he only gave permission for the police to search the car but not all the closed containers within the car.  The case is significant for two reasons: it reminds us all of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure; and it also reminds us all of the importance of being very clear and direct in dealings with the police, lest they misconstrue your assertion or waiver of your right to privacy.

Today was bill signing day at the State House - the day when sponsors of proposed legislation collect at the State House to secure co-sponsors for their bills.  Two bills we support that particularly implicate civil rights and civil liberties are An Act to Ensure Humane Treatment for Special Management Prisoners (LR 2289), sponsored by Representative Jim Schatz, which

After something I read today, I wouldn’t be so sure. For anyone who, after over 8 years of the Patriot Act in effect, still doesn’t believe the bill is an invasion of privacy on innocent Americans, perhaps the following will change your mind.