News & Commentary

An immigration reform bill introduced in April 2013 in the Senate has the potential to be a historic advance for the civil rights and liberties of immigrants and all Americans. If passed, it will put millions of immigrants who contribute every day to the vitality of our country on a road to citizenship. Go here to learn more and follow along. 

Some hugely important votes could take place in the Maine legislature any day that will have a direct impact on Mainers' privacy.  We really need your help to ensure that privacy prevails.  Click here to find your legislator and call or email them right now.  In a hurry?  Use our action alert system here.  The issue at hand is whether law enforcement should have to get a warrant based upon probable cause before spying on you.  Whether it's cell phones, drones, or cameras, we think the Fourth Amendment should apply.  After all, there's no technology exception written into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The first vote -- on LD 415 to require warrants for geolocational tracking -- was scheduled for today but postponed until tomorrow.  The opposition is fierce.  Law enforcement argue that it's too much of a burden to have to go before a judge to obtain a warrant before tracking people via their cell phone or other portable electronic device.  They also claim that this is covered by federal law, but the last time the federal law was updated was back in 1986, before most people had cell phones and long before GPS or the World Wide Web even existed.  Votes will follow soon on three other bills requiring law enforcement to get a warrant before conducting non-emergency surveillance via drones (LD 236), text message (LD 1377), or game cameras (LD 1040).  Call or email your legislator now, and let them know that the Constitution is important.  You can find your legislator and his or her phone number here.  The Fourth Amendment should be applied to new technology, and the legislature should act to protect Mainers' privacy before it's too late. LD 236 would require law enforcement to get a warrant before conducting drone surveillance, and it would prohibit the deployment of weaponized drones by law enforcement in Maine.  Our opponents have put forward an amendment to the bill so that police would police themselves by developing internal policies.  We think that going to a judge is really important, and a warrant should be required. LD 1377 would require law enforcement to get a probable cause warrant before accessing your text messages.  Our opponents argue that text messages belong to the phone company, not you, to which we say no one would say that the US Postal Service owns your letters, so why should the privacy protections for text messages under the law be any different? LD 1040 would require law enforcement including game wardens to get a probable cause warrant before placing a surveillance camera on your property.  Law enforcement says that you should only have privacy in your immediate yard, not in the woods behind your house.  We think that's too low of a standard, especially for folks living in rural Maine with larger property lots. While these bills seem simple, especially to civil libertarians, it's an uphill battle, so every personal contact with legislators matters. Fired up?  So are we.  I was at the legislature last night until 7:30 pm.  I'll be there tomorrow night as well.  But I could use your help.  Please click here to look up your legislator and then call or email them.  Or if you're in a hurry, you can click here to email them directly.  Let them know that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are important.  We can preserve both our safety and our constitutional freedoms.  Thank you!

Last week, I testified against a bill that sought to create severe criminal penalties for cyberbullying. Under LD 1233, a first cyberbullying offense would have been a Class E crime, and subsequent offenses rose to Class C status - in other words, a felony. In the 125th Legislature, the ACLU of Maine worked closely with stakeholders and the Education Committee to craft Maine's anti-bullying law, which directs schools to seriously investigate and address the growing problem of bullying in our schools. Importantly, the anti-bullying law does not provide for criminal penalties, but provides alternative forms of discipline. These measures reflect the underlying goal of creating a safe and supportive environments for all students, and promoting approaches to bullying and harassment that attempt to repair harms and improve school climates and educational opportunities for all youth. As a result of policies in other states like that proposed in LD 1233, more and more students each year with behavior problems are pushed out of school and into the criminal justice system, which is poorly equipped to help correct and improve behavior.  Instead of asking police to act like teachers, Maine should be doing more to equip schools to correct behavior problems early so that they do not become law-enforcement problems.  Proposals to get the police involved as early as possible cut directly against that.  A bully who is sent to jail for six months will remain a bully, and the school (and the State) will have missed out on any opportunity to correct or reform that behavior.  That is a loss that none of us can afford.  The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee heard our concerns, and unanimously voted against the bill. We applaud the committee's commitment to keeping young Mainers out of jail!

As early as tomorrow, the Maine Senate and House will vote on whether the police should get a warrant before tracking people with their cell phones. We’ve been working together all session to convince the Legislature to vote for privacy protections, and now they need to hear from you one last time! Please call or email your senator and representative TONIGHT so they know you want them to vote YES for LD 415 and privacy protections. Click here to find their phone number. Or, click here to send an email. Your cell phone is constantly creating a digital map of your whereabouts, and this location information can reveal a lot about you: where you worship, who you spend time with, what your political affiliations are, and more. The police should not be able to collect this treasure trove of personal info about you without proving they have a good reason. They should get a warrant first. Even if you've take action on this before, it's important that your legislators hear from you again tonight. Take action now - tell your legislators to vote yes on LD 415! Taking action is as easy as picking up the phone. Find your legislators here and give them a call. Or send them an email by clicking here. Together we've been working all session to protect the Constitution. Now we're in the home stretch - and your calls and emails will really make a difference.

LD 165, a bill that would make it easier for more Maine citizens to vote, seeks to amend the Maine Constitution to allow for early voting. The bill does not mandate towns to adopt early voting, but would create an option. Representative Shaw of Standish sponsored the bill and the ACLU has been working hard to get it passed through the House and Senate. Because it would change our state's constitution, it requires 2/3rds of the House to pass. An initial vote today passed the House - but it's not over yet!

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation. Abortion Rights Yesterday, the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee held public hearings on three anti-choice bills. The bills seem designed to chip away at abortion rights. Wisely, the committee voted “ought not to pass” on all three bills today. Read more here.   Other states, like Arkansas, have not had the same amount of success in preventing erosion of abortion rights. Arkansas doctors have asked the court to to block the state’s new abortion rules which would ban most abortions at the 12th week of pregnancy - far earlier than any measure of viability.   Freedom of the Press Law enforcement officials secretly seized two months of phone records for more than 20 phone lines of journalists at the Associated Press. According to this New York Times story, “Justice Department regulations call for subpoenas for journalists’ phone records to be undertaken as a last resort and narrowly focused, subject to the attorney general’s personal signoff.” Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office, commented,  “The media's purpose is to keep the public informed and it should be free to do so without the threat of unwarranted surveillance.” Gene Patents Angelina Jolie contributed a widely circulated op-ed about her double mastectomy to the New York Times this week.  She notes in the Op-Ed that, “the cost of testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2, at more than $3,000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women.” Why does the test cost so much? The company Myriad Genetics discovered that mutations on BRCA1 and BRCA2 indicate higher likelihood of breast and ovarian cancers. After the research, they patented the gene—they patented a part of your body. Now, no other company is allowed to do research on those genes. Without competition, the price of testing remains high. Patents reward and encourage human ingenuity, but genes are naturally-occurring parts of our bodies, not inventions. Recently the ACLU, along with scientists and cancer patient advocates, argued a challenge to the patent at the Supreme Court.   Read more here, and check out this engaging video from the ACLU:  

A week and a half ago, I had the privilege of meeting with members of the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition and staffers of Maine Senator Angus King. We were asked to share our personal immigration stories, urging the Senator to support reform.  By the time it was my turn, I was in tears. I apologized to the small group gathered who have been separated from their families, put in jail and denied basic benefits while seeking asylum in our country. Their stories made me aware of many things: I am white, I am an American citizen, I am safe and I have plenty.  But still, I was there to tell my story. My partner, Trish, is a Canadian citizen. We met and fell in love almost two years ago. We want to marry here in Maine and start a family here. However, under the Defense of Marriage Act, our Maine marriage would not be recognized by our federal government. Because of that, I cannot sponsor Trish as my spouse for immigration. Sadly, same-sex bi-national couples were not included in the immigration reform bill introduced last month. Even sadder still, some couples in situations like Trish and I are much worse off. They are separated from their children or, even worse, one of them lives in a country where it is illegal or unsafe to be openly gay.  But still, we want immigration reform now. We want to be included. We want to stop putting our lives on hold. I want to stop feeling like I have to choose between the person I love and the country I love.  Senator King signed on as a co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act two days after the meeting. This bill, also sponsored by Senator Collins, would allow same-sex bi-national couples to be eligible to sponsor their spouse for immigration. Though it is currently a separate bill, this important piece of legislation would mean immigration reform for my community - and for Trish and I.  We're all thankful for Senator King's response. We encourage folks to reach out to him to let him know how you feel about immigration issues. He's clearly listening. 

The following are public hearings and work sessions on bills of note for the week of May 13: May 13

Each Friday, we’ll bring you updates on the latest civil liberties news from Maine and the nation.   Maine Legislative Successes   The ACLU of Maine has been actively working towards the passage of five bills related to privacy and technology this session (more here) . Yesterday, the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Judiciary voted in support of one of our bills, An Act to Protect Cellular Telephone Privacy. This bill requires law enforcement agencies and officers to obtain a probably cause warrant before obtaining text message content and cell phone records. The police aren’t allowed to read our personal mail without a warrant, they should not be allowed to read our text messages either. The bill now goes to the full house and senate for approval.   Another privacy bill before the legislature got tabled until next year. This bill prohibits employers and schools from accessing passwords to the private social media accounts of their employees or students. The ACLU of Maine will continue to educate folks on the importance of this measure. What people do online during their own time, outside of work and school, is their own business.   In other legislative news, the legislature defeated two unconstitutional bills yesterday that sought to put in place unconstitutional drug testing and residency requirements for welfare recipients.   Same-sex marriage victories in three states   Last Thursday, Rhode Island became the tenth state to legalize same sex marriage.   On Tuesday, Delaware became the eleventh state to legalize same-sex marriage.   Minnesota looks poised to become the twelfth state to legalize same-sex marriage. The Minnesota House of Representatives voted to approve same-sex marriage yesterday. The house was thought to be the biggest hurdle in the legalization process. Commentators expect passage in the senate and Minnesota’s governor publicly declared an intention to sign the bill into law.