Press Releases

ACLU Seeks Investigation into Misuse of COVID-19 Relief Funds on Penobscot County Jail

The ACLU of Maine has joined with ACLU affiliates around the country in a letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury seeking an investigation into the widespread, improper use of COVID relief funds to build and expand jails and prisons, including the money allocated in Penobscot County.
Issue Areas: Criminal Legal Reform

Abbe Museum, ACLU of Maine, Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission and Wabanaki Alliance Release Report About Implementation of 2001 Wabanaki Studies Law

A new study finds that despite a 21-year-old law requiring all Maine K-12 schools to teach students about the Wabanaki Tribes school districts across the state, school districts have failed to include Wabanaki Studies consistently and appropriately in their curriculum.
Issue Areas: Indigenous Justice

ACLU, ACLU of Maine, and National Women’s Law Center File Amicus Brief Urging First Circuit Court of Appeals to Uphold Maine’s Strong Equal Pay Act

The ACLU, ACLU of Maine, and the National Women’s Law Center filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit urging it to uphold a Maine federal district court’s ruling that the Maine Equal Pay Law forbids sex-based disparities in employee pay.
Issue Areas: Women's Rights

Court Approves Settlement Agreement Returning Unemployment Benefits Seized From Incarcerated Workers

The class action settlement also recognizes that incarcerated people have a constitutionally protected property interest in their prison accounts.
Issue Areas: Criminal Legal Reform
Court Cases: Sparks v. Mills

Advocates Respond to DOJ Investigation Finding Significant Failures in Maine’s Children’s Behavioral Health System

A Department of Justice investigation concludes that Maine's children's behavioral health system creates a significant risk of segregating and institutionalizing children with disabilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Issue Areas: Criminal Legal Reform

ACLU Comment on Supreme Court Decision in Carson v. Makin

The Supreme Court issued a ruling today in Carson v. Makin that requires the state of Maine to fund religious education at private religious schools as part of its tuition assistance program.