News & Commentary

In June of last year, a treasure trove of documents detailing the vast scope of government surveillance were unexpectedly released and immediately took the world by storm. Nearly simultaneously, through an iconic interview at an undisclosed location in Hong Kong, we met the young, soft-spoken contractor who had left behind a stable life in order to make those revelations come to light.

As early as this week, the U.S. Senate may vote on the USA Freedom Act, a bi-partisan bill that would significantly scale back the federal government’s ability to illegally spy.

On Wednesday night at Bowdoin College (my alma mater), I'm going to give a talk on the first nine years of the Roberts Court. The focus will be on four areas of law - free speech, racial justice, privacy and criminal law - that are connected to my work as an ACLU lawyer who litigates questions of civil rights and civil liberties. But, I think these areas are worth focusing on not just because they are my job, but also because of their importance in the national conversation about what kind of country we want to have. These areas of law, each in their own way, tell a story about our relation to our government and our relation to one another that transcends the courtroom.

The following statement can be attributed to Alison Beyea, executive director of the ACLU of Maine:

Yesterday we held one of our three annual student conferences. One of the workshop sessions we offered was titled “Privacy and New Technology: Can the Government Track Your Phone?” The lesson is structured around a mock legislative hearing with students acting as lawmakers and debating a bill requiring police to obtain a warrant before obtaining information from a cellphone. (Thanks to the efforts of our legislative team, the bill they were debating is actually the law of the land in Maine, unlike in most states.)

Are you headed to the Camden International Film Festival this weekend? If so, why not add a few films with a civil liberties angle to your schedule? Here are our picks:

Today we filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Bar Harbor couple who were arrested for observing and attempting to film an interaction between several police officers and a woman in downtown Portland.

In 2007, Maine became the first state in the country to formally reject the proposed national ID card program, REAL ID. The ACLU of Maine played a key role in organizing the opposition to REAL ID here in Maine (and across the country)--from civil rights advocates, libertarians, privacy activists, and people of every kind of political view who don't want this country to be one where authorities are able to constantly demand, "Show me your papers!"  

Last month, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced a new version of the USA Freedom Act, an important first step toward reining in government surveillance powers and reclaiming your privacy.