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- EIN 01-0367357
- (207) 774-5444
- 107 Washington Ave Portland ME 04101-2618 USA
- www.aclumaine.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy
Mission: The mission of the aclu-me foundation is to advance and preserve the civil liberties of maine people by working in the courts and the community. Our priority issues include criminal justice reform, freedom of speech and religion, immigrants' rights,lgbt rights, privacy, racial justice, reproductive freedom, voting rights, and women's rights. Our target populations are those most vulnerable to deprivation of human rights and liberties, including racial and religious minorities, immigrants, the lgbt community, prisoners, people with disabilities, and people with low incomes.
Programs: Legal program: the aclu-me's legal program is central to its civil liberties work. Using staff and community attorneys, the aclu advanced several critical cases this year including a successful challenge to portland's ban on exercising free speech on street medians. We also helped win a groundbreaking lawsuit affirming the rights of transgender students, joined a lawsuit challenging the denial of assistance to asylum seekers and other new mainers, and obtained a settlement with portland police that guarantees enhanced officer training.
public education: the aclu-me's public education program raises awareness about how the constitution's protections impact mainers' daily lives. As thomas jefferson put it, "[a]n educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people. " this year we sponsored six film screenings and held five public lectures on topics ranging from government surveillance to the supreme court term. We also organized a march to end violence that was attended by over 500 people, produced a video about maine's anti-bullying law, which won a new england emmy award, directly reached high school students through regional conferences and classroom visits, and provided additional content through our quarterly newsletter, website, blog, and social media.