News & Commentary

Hello all! My name is Grainne Dunne and I have just begun my work at the ACLU of Maine as the new Justice Organizer. I am so excited to be part of the dynamic team here at the ACLU of Maine and cannot wait to get to work with my new colleagues on criminal justice reform in Maine.

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

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division announced a resolution clarifying that a California public school must provide a transgender student with access to facilities consistent with his gender identity. Under the agreement, the student must be allowed to participate in all school-related activities and programs in line with his gender identity - in other words, if he wants to join the boys soccer team, he can.This resolution is a great step forward in the fight for trans rights. Notably, the government acknowledges that discrimination against trans people is in fact gender-based discrimination, and thus impermissible under Title IX.You can read the full agreement here.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division announced a resolution clarifying that a California public school must provide a transgender student with access to facilities consistent with his gender identity. Under the agreement, the student must be allowed to participate in all school-related activities and programs in line with his gender identity - in other words, if he wants to join the boys soccer team, he can. This resolution is a great step forward in the fight for trans rights. Notably, the government acknowledges that discrimination against trans people is in fact gender-based discrimination, and thus impermissible under Title IX. You can read the full agreement here.

ACLU of Maine and Pine Tree Legal Sue the City of Westbrook The ACLU of Maine and Pine Tree Legal Assistance have filed a suit against the city of Westbrook for using a no-trespass order to evict Anne Blake and Kevin McBride from their apartment.  A typical eviction process involves a notice, summons, and an opportunity to contest the eviction in court. However, the police showed up with a no trespass order and told the couple they had 30 minutes to pack their belongings and leave. Unlike a real eviction process, the criminal trespass order means that Blake will not be able to visit with or provide childcare for her grandchildren who live in the same apartment building. As Shenna Bellows notes in this story, if Blake or McBride violate the no trespass order they would face the collateral consequences of a new criminal record including, “potentially limited access to public housing [and] difficulty finding employment.” Read more here.   Challenges to Same-Sex Marriage Bans Same-sex couples across the country are challenging state bans on same-sex marriage.  pressing for the freedom to marry in states that . One county in Philadelphia is issuing marriage licenses despite a state ban. Read more here. In Ohio, a gay couple sued to have their out-of-state marriage recognized by the state and won. One half of the couple has Lou Gherig’s disease and wants to be buried in a family plot that only allows descendants and spouses. Read more here. Similarly, a couple are suing to have marriages performed outside of Kentucky recognized by the state. As noted in the story, the ACLU also expects challenges in Hawaii, Michigan, Nevada and Virginia.   Solitary Confinement and Hunger Strikes in California’s Prisons Prisoners in California are refusing meals in a demand for solitary confinement reform. On Wednesday, prison rights advocates, including celebrities joined in solidarity with the thousands of California prisoners on hunger strike to protest conditions in California in Solitary Confinement. Chris Hedges writes here about the need for prison reform and why he showed solidarity with the hunger strikers this past Wednesday.   Metadata If you didn’t see our intern Sophie’s blog yesterday, check it out and then visit the website Immersion and log in with your Gmail account to see what metadata about YOU looks like.

Yesterday, the Guardian published details of a top secret National Security Agency program that allows analysts to search through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals virtually anywhere in the world. The program, called XKeyscore, confirms Edward Snowden's famous claim that from his workstation at Booz Allen he could "wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the President, if I had a personal e-mail."Indeed, XKeyscore is terribly impressive by just how easily the massive data set can be searched.Read though the training materials on XKeyscore here.Fittingly, the ACLU testified yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the need to strengthen privacy rights.  You can read Jameel Jaffer and Laura Murphy's testimony here.

Yesterday, the Guardian published details of a top secret National Security Agency program that allows analysts to search through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals virtually anywhere in the world.  The program, called XKeyscore, confirms Edward Snowden's famous claim that from his workstation at Booz Allen he could "wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the President, if I had a personal e-mail." Indeed, XKeyscore is terribly impressive by just how easy the massive data set can be searched. Read though the training materials on XKeyscore here. Fittingly, the ACLU testified yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the need to strengthen privacy rights.  You can read Jameel Jaffer and Laura Murphy's testimony here.

The CHEETA Project is an exciting new program in Portland that’s empowering youth to promote social justice and equality through service learning projects and community building. Their students are primarily refugee and immigrant teens, and last week I had the pleasure of visiting with them to talk about Maine’s new anti-bullying law. A primary goal of CHEETA is to educate kids about the problems in their communities. One of the topics they’re focusing on this summer is bullying, so we wanted to make sure these students were aware of Maine’s new law and how it protects them at school. It was interesting to hear their views on bullying and listen to some of the incidents they’ve witnessed in their schools. Few of the students had heard of the new law and they – like us – are hopeful that it can make a real difference. Educating young people about their rights under the anti-bullying law will be a focus of ours in the upcoming school year, but we haven’t forgotten about it over the summer. Last month we sent a letter along with EqualityMaine and GLSEN to every principal and superintendent in the state. We thanked them for the work they’ve done so far to implement the anti-bullying law, and we also encouraged them to include gender identity and gender expression explicitly in their anti-bullying policy. Maine’s protections under the new law are even more important after the leadership of the House of Representatives blocked a floor vote earlier this month on the Student Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would create a comprehensive prohibition against discrimination of LGBT students in our public schools. We know that LGBT students are more frequently bullied, and we’re concerned that if schools don’t specifically list gender identity and expression then students being bullied because of those reasons may not be fully protected. The more we talk to students about the anti-bullying law, the more we recognize just how important its new protections are. Whether you’re an immigrant, a refugee, an LGBT youth, or a straight white male, bullying is not something that you should have to put up with at school. In less than a month schools all around Maine will be opening their doors, and we’re looking forward to talking with students in every county about the new anti-bullying law. If you’re a teacher or a school administrator and you’d like us to speak with your classes, contact me at [email protected] and I’d be happy to set something up.

The CHEETA Project is an exciting new program in Portland that’s empowering youth to promote social justice and equality through service learning projects and community building. Their students are primarily refugee and immigrant teens, and last week I had the pleasure of visiting with them to talk about Maine’s new anti-bullying law.   A primary goal of CHEETA is to educate kids about the problems in their communities. One of the topics they’re focusing on this summer is bullying, so we wanted to make sure these students were aware of Maine’s new law and how it protects them at school. It was interesting to hear their views on bullying and listen to some of the incidents they’ve witnessed in their schools. Few of the students had heard of the new law and they – like us – are hopeful that it can make a real difference.   Educating young people about their rights under the anti-bullying law will be a focus of ours in the upcoming school year, but we haven’t forgotten about it over the summer. Last month we sent a letter along with EqualityMaine and GLSEN to every principal and superintendent in the state. We thanked them for the work they’ve done so far to implement the anti-bullying law, and we also encouraged them to include gender identity and gender expression explicitly in their anti-bullying policy. Maine’s protections under the new law are even more important after the leadership of the House of Representatives blocked a floor vote earlier this month on the Student Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would create a comprehensive prohibition against discrimination of LGBT students in our public schools. We know that LGBT students are more frequently bullied, and we’re concerned that if schools don’t specifically list gender identity and expression then students being bullied because of those reasons may not be fully protected.   The more we talk to students about the anti-bullying law, the more we recognize just how important its new protections are. Whether you’re an immigrant, a refugee, an LGBT youth, or a straight white male, bullying is not something that you should have to put up with at school. In less than a month schools all around Maine will be opening their doors, and we’re looking forward to talking with students in every county about the new anti-bullying law. If you’re a teacher or a school administrator and you’d like us to speak with your classes, contact me at [email protected] and I’d be happy to set something up.