MCLU cites difficult civil liberties battles as organization turns 40

The Maine Civil Liberties Union turns 40 this year.

Members and supporters of the MCLU held a dinner Thursday evening, celebrating how far the organization has come.

Louis Scolnik, a former Maine Supreme Court justice, helped found the MCLU in 1968. The first year the organization had a budget of $268.

“The MCLU has not only been able to survive but evolve into the effective, well-respected organization it is today,” Scolnik said.

But things have only gotten tougher in the world of litigation in favor of civil liberties. When they started, they tackled issues as simple as defending boys’ rights to have long hair in school.

Now some of their most recent battles include fights against warrantless wiretapping and Real ID.

This is especially true in the last eight years under President Bush’s administration, said keynote speaker Caroline Fredrickson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington legislative office.

“We are facing some of the greatest civil liberties challenges in our lifetime,” Fredrickson said in her speech. “We have endured an administration that has used the specter of terrorism to grossly inflate executive power and whittle away our civil liberties. Guantanamo, NSA warrantless wiretapping, and torture are just a few entries on a long list of dubious accomplishments.”

Bush’s tactics have been aided by a weak Congress, she said. “It seems like all the president has to do is mutter the word terrorism and the lawmakers scatter, falling over themselves to find new ways to acquiesce to his whims.”

She added: ““It’s quite a sight, actually, to see members of Congress sell out their constituents and their principles every time the president somehow manages to put a few consonants and a few vowels together.”

While she predicted that presumptive Republican nominee John McCain will likely be more of the same, the two Democratic nominees are pushing for change.

However, she notes, presidents don’t often give up executive power easily.

“If we want true change that reflects our values we have to be vigilant,” she said.

Fredrickson pointed to the MCLU as a leader on a number of issues, including fighting the controversial Real ID act.

Over the past 40 years, the MCLU has taken up a myriad of cases, including:

1970: The organization briefed the Maine Law Court, who ruled that legislation providing for public funding of parochial schools is unconstitutional

1972: The MCLU won a case allowing students to vote in towns where they reside to attend school

1986: The MCLU defeated a statewide referendum that would have made it a crime to make, sell or promote obscene material in Maine

1989: The MCLU filed suit against the Augusta Mental Health Institute, leading to major reforms

1990: The MCLU represented a veteran who burned a flag outside a hall where Gov. John McKernan was speaking. The charges were dropped.

1998: They unsuccessfully challenged the Maine Clean Elections Law on the ground that campaign donations are a manifestation of free speech

2004: They defended the rights of activists to march in Augusta against the Iraq War

2007: They successfully lobbied the Legislature to reject Real ID