News & Commentary

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

The Maine State Legislature is gearing up for the 2014 short session - and so are we! We are closely watching any bills that threaten or promote civil liberties. While we haven't taken an official position on any bills yet, here's a list of some bills that we're following:

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

On Sunday evening I took part in an exciting panel discussion in Porter on the issue of public financing and money in politics. These are complicated topics, and ones that good people frequently disagree over. And as yesterday’s packed house evidenced, it’s an issue that many Mainers are thinking heavily about as we get ready to enter a gubernatorial election year.

Respected Federal Appeals Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit recently admitted what the ACLU and voting rights advocates have been saying for a long time:  Voter identification laws are a means to impede access to the polls and not to prevent fraud.  Judge Posner wrote the majority opinion in a landmark case, Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, affirming voter ID requirements in 2007.

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

A recent Portland Press Herald article featured the story of Thomas Schoolcraft, a New Hampshire man whose request for pardon of his felony conviction was denied last Wednesday by New Hampshire’s Executive Council.

We went into the 126th Legislature with a plan: to bring Maine's privacy laws up to speed with advancing technology. To that end, we proposed a 5-bill privacy package with bipartisan sponsorship. And while it was an uphill battle the whole way, we were successful in winning privacy protections and standing up for the 4th Amendment! 

Even as we celebrate a great victory in the Supreme Court on the ruling of Windsor vs. the United States (down with DOMA!) we must acknowledge that not all rulings this week have been in the favor of justice and equality. Two days ago the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on the repeal of the coverage formula of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act, implemented in 1965, protects those who have been historically disenfranchised (i.e. people of color and immigrants) from the states seizing their rights to vote through subversive tactics such as poll taxes or literacy tests. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits tactics such as these: voting regulations with the specific intent of preventing those of any race or ethnicity from voting. Section 5 was a little bit more precise. This Section directly addressed those states whose have historically disenfranchised minority race or language groups. Section 5 decreed that any changes to voting regulations in certain "jurisdictions" must be given the stamp of approval by the Department of Justice. Basically, it was a buffer for racist disenfranchisement, protecting the rights of people in those "jurisdictions" who would steal them away. While Section 5 remains, the coverage formula, deciding which states must abide by the pre-clearance requirement, does not. Now the power lies with Congress to decide upon a new coverage formula, and we will all wait with baited breath to see if justice wins out. If certain "jurisdictions" are given the license to make their own voting regulations without pre-clearance, the voices of thousands of Americans could be stolen away overnight. Yes, in the future any individual may object to a particular law, and one day the case may make it to the Supreme Court. But in the interim who knows how many individuals will be disenfranchised. For an idea of the states response to the Supreme Court's decision, read this. Less than 48 hours from the official ruling, 6 states already began taking action in their legislature to impose more stringent voting regulations. This is scary stuff, and could affect thousands of Americans trying to have their voices heard in their state government and in our national government.  At this historical juncture, we all must hope that Congress can work together, Democrats and Republicans alike, to protect freedom and rights of all Americans, no matter their native language or the color of their skin.