Maine Legislature Files Brief in U.S. Supreme Court in Defense of Legislative Immunity

On May 8, the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, and the Clerk of the State House, filed this brief in Libby v Fecteau, 24A1051. This case arose when the House disciplined Representative Laurel D. Libby for having posted on social media a picture of a transgender high school student. Her post included the student’s name. The House said that Libby must remove the social media posting and apologize for having posted it, but she refused, so the House ruled that she cannot vote until the end of the session, or until she changes her mind. Libby then sued, but lost in the lower federal courts.

Florida Initiative Proponents File Federal Lawsuit to Overturn New Restrictions on Petitioners

On May 4, proponents of one particular Florida initiative filed a federal lawsuit to overturn new restrictions on petitioning for Florida initiatives. Florida Decides Healthcare v Byrd, n.d., 4:25cv-211. The lawsuit was filed only two days after the new restrictions, included in House Bill 1205, had been signed into law. Here is the Complaint. Page 21 and the following pages list the challenged restrictions. The first part of the Complaint as a history of previous attempts by the Florida legislature to make it difficult to qualify initiatives.

Among the challenged restrictions is the ban on out-of-state circulators. The case also challenges the fact that the new law goes into effect in the middle of the initiative drive. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Walker, an Obama appointee.