News & Commentary

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

Victory on 1! Last night the voters of Portland approved Question 1 - legalizing marijuana use by adults -  by almost 70%!  The people of Portland have sent a message (a resounding message at that!) to lawmakers across the state and the nation that now is the time for reform of our marijuana laws.  The War on Marijuana has failed. Our criminal justice system is maxed out, our prisons and jails overcrowded, our budgets strained, and we are no safer for it. Furthermore, we have seen incalculable human costs. To read more on the ACLU’s work on marijuana reform and the consequences of prohibition click here. It is time now for a more sensible approach to marijuana - one that better protects our families and communities by allowing us to use our taxpayer dollars and policing resources more effectively and stops unnecessarily funneling people into our overcrowded criminal justice system! And last night Portland took the lead, becoming the first city in Maine and on the East Coast to legalize marijuana use by adults! The ACLU of is thrilled to join the voters of Portland in celebrating this historic first step towards reform!

A majority of Americans support a new approach to marijuana. Portland can lead the way. It’s time to:

Last Friday, Governor Paul LePage and Public Safety Commissioner John Morris held two Drug Awareness Summits with local law enforcement. These summits were in response to recent data showing rising drug abuse rates in Maine and were closed to both the media and the public. A New York Times article published this past summer highlighted the increased use and availability of heroin throughout New England. Last year in Maine, 21 people died from heroin overdoes  - up from 7 in 2011. In his subsequent comments to the press, Governor LePage expressed concern over the “personal and economic costs associated with drug and alcohol abuse” citing his administration’s estimate that substance abuse in Maine costs the state 1.4 billion annually – or $1,000 per resident.

A majority of Americans support marijuana legalization according to a recent Gallop poll.  

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend part of a week-long symposium organized by Maine Inside Out – a non-profit organization that collaborates with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people to create and share original theater. The symposium was titled Culture of Punishment – From Parenting to Prisons and culminated with keynote address by prominent anti-death penalty activist and author of Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean.

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

As corrections budgets soar both nationally and at the state level, lawmakers and bureaucrats are looking for ways to cut costs - and unfortunately, privatization of our prisons, jails and corrections services are a tempting solution. There is a fundamental tension between the stated goals of our prisons and jails and the priorities of for-profit companies. While our prisons and jails should be focused on rehabilitation and supporting successful re-entry back into our communities, for-profit industries have one responsibility: to cut costs and increase revenue. This has created a perverse set of incentives, whereby companies' profits are implicitly tied to increasing demand for prisons and jails - and actively lobbying to ensure they remain full. Mass incarceration has deprived a record number of Americans of their liberty, has disproportionately impacted minorities and people of color and has come at a huge cost to individuals, families and our communities. No one should be profiting from locking people up. In order to address over-incarceration, it is important that we tell our lawmakers that profiteering off the warehousing of our citizens is unacceptable. To read more about the ACLU’s work on private prisons click here.