News & Commentary

Last week I stood at the edge of a field, watching a father and his two young sons chase each other across the grass. The field was half as wide as a football field and twice as long. The boys darted in and out of a line of trees as they made their way toward the other end. It was cute, and it was illegal. 

Happy Banned Books Week! This is the 31st year that the freedom to read will be officially honored. If you visit a local bookstore this week you may well find displays of challenged books or other events dealing with censorship. Here at the ACLU of Maine, we’re also getting in on the weeklong celebration – and you can join us!

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

In response to a letter we sent to the Town of Fairfield earlier this week, Fairfield's Town Council voted last night to temporarily suspend enforcement of the town's social media policy. The policy, adopted by the town over the summer, sought to govern town employee use of social media and the internet in order to protect the town's reputation and relationships. But in fact, the policy as written went much further - impremissibly restricting the free speech rights of town personnel. We raised our concerns in a letter to the town and are pleased to know that the town is taking the issue seriously. You can read the full story here.

Thursday morning, Chelsea Manning came out as a transgender woman. Following her announcement, a military spokesman stated that the Army will not provide gender affirming healthcare for Ms. Manning, which raises significant constitutional concerns. The national ACLU writes:

Today, a military court-martial sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking government documents to Wikileaks. In July, Manning was found not guilty of the most serious charge against him, "aiding the enemy." However, he was found guilty of another 19 charges, including 5 counts of espionage. 

Portland's ban on standing or sitting or loitering in any way on any of the median strips in the city goes into effect today. If you stand in a median strip holding a political sign (even one opposing the median strip ban), you will be breaking the law. Also, if you stop to smell the flowers on the median strip on Congress Street in front of City Hall. There is a lovely bench on the grassy median strip on Fore Street near the Custom House that was, according to a small plaque, placed there in memory of Gene and Madelyn Cohen. Sit on this bench at your own risk, as you will be breaking the law.  WMTW did a nice story on the ban last evening, which included footage of some of these places. The interview with me took place on the Franklin Arterial median strip near Middle Street. 

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! 

As you may have seen (or heard, or read) the City of Portland adopted a new ordinance this week governing median strips. If you listened to the debate at the city council meeting, you could be forgiven for thinking that this new ordinance was designed to prevent dangerous or threatening panhandling, or to restrict panhandling in general. It isn't.The new Portland ordinance actually bans anyone from being in any median strip anywhere in Portland for any reason other than crossing from one side of the road to the other. Holding a sign on election day? Illegal. Holding a petition to collect signatures? Illegal. Talking with a friend that you happen to run into while crossing the street? Illegal. And while you may be troubled by the site of panhandlers in some of Portland's busiest thoroughfares, this ordinance does not simply apply to Marginal Way or Forest Avenue--it applies to every median strip in the city, even the grassy ones in Stroudwater or Deering that had previously only been used by kids for lemonade stands.