News & Commentary

March with the ACLU of Maine at the largest LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Northern New England. Join us to affirm together that love is love!

We did it, friends. We rallied, we organized, and we defeated LD 366. Like other “anti-sanctuary city” bills around the country, LD 366 would have forced local law enforcement to act like federal immigration agents, and punish towns and cities that choose not to do so by withholding all state funds

Today we launched a new government accountability site, Maine Government Watch.

Governor Paul LePage took a step in the right direction this week by announcing his plan to commute the sentences of low-risk prisoners who are now idling in Maine’s prisons. Although the governor has yet to announce details about which prisoners’ sentences he will commute or how many, his decision acknowledges that Maine needlessly incarcerates too many people for too long.

Here we are, months into the resistance and I know that at times it can feel too tricky to stay on top of the latest outrage.  I’m writing this blog post right now to bring your attention to an urgent privacy issue in Maine that we can’t let slip under the radar.

Last month’s ACLU of Maine Annual Dinner and Scolnik Award night at Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland broke all previous tallies in terms of attendance, enthusiasm, and funds raised.  We are so grateful for the friends old and new who joined us, for the sponsors who supported us, and for the many volunteers who helped make it happen.

Within days of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), led by Mary Mayhew, announced that it would seek the Trump Administration’s help dismantling Maine’s Medicaid system. This week, DHHS is making good on that promise and holding hearings on its request that the federal government “waive” certain Medicaid rules – rules that no administration in the past 50 years has waived – in order to further dismantle health care for Mainers.

Here’s some good news for your Thursday:

I am filled with so much gratitude. It’s been really inspirational to meet with ACLU members in Bangor and Portland at the Action Forums these past couple of weeks (see you soon Rockland!).