Our state legislative session is reaching its crunch time, with furious negotiations taking place, floor votes coming up, and stakes getting higher for bills that have made it this far. Thankfully there is still time to address income inequality. Especially in regard to state employees and those who are retired. If you want to look…
The beginning of the 2023 legislative session marks the return of several major proposed criminal justice measures, as advocates hope to make significant changes to the state’s drug laws while also pursuing reforms to policing and incarceration in Maine. Much of the legislation that will be considered this year is still being finalized. However, among…
Members of the Maine Sheriffs’ Association and the Maine Medical Association on Monday voiced support for a bill that could significantly reform Maine’s drug sentencing laws. The Criminal Justice Committee is considering legislation, LD 1492, introduced last year by state Rep. Pinny Beebe-Center (D-Rockland), that would attempt to bring Maine in line with other states…
Ten years worth of new data confirms what many Mainers demanding criminal justice reform have long known: Maine’s own “War on Drugs,” with its criminalization of drug use and possession amid the state’s opioid crisis, has been disproportionately waged on Black people and women. Analysts from the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center looked…
The Maine People’s Alliance’s 2019 legislative scorecard launched online Tuesday, with 38 legislators earning perfect scores for advancing progressive values with votes they made during the first session of the 129th legislature. In an email announcing the scorecard’s launch, MPA co-director Amy Halsted said it is a “chance to make clear how our state lawmakers voted on some…
As the first session with Governor Janet Mills at the helm, and both houses of the state legislature under the direction of strong Democratic leaders, comes to a close, how well did the party wield its newly won power? The short answer: It depends who you ask. While the state passed many notable advancements, some…
Hoping to fine-tune legislation that would make compassion and public health a focal point for discussing the opioid crisis, the state legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted at a work session on Wednesday to table a bill that would reform Maine’s trafficking and possession laws. “We did see some folks come in [to…
In an effort to shift the response to the opioid crisis away from a criminal justice approach to one centered on compassion and public health, state Rep. Pinny Beebe-Center (D-Rockland) is working to reform Maine’s trafficking and possession laws, which she says are currently only making the epidemic worse. “I’ve sponsored this bill because I…