Maine Democrats have pushed forward one of the biggest threats to democracy our country has seen in recent years, and it will have devastating effects if the Supreme Court does not step in and reverse it.
It has been more than two months since Maine Democrats voted to ban a member of the opposition from voting on bills or speaking on the floor of the state House. Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby was punished by the state for highlighting a male athlete who beat high school girls to win an individual and team state championship for his high school girls’ team.
As a result, Maine House Democrats blocked her from doing her job as a legislator, disenfranchising her constituents in the process. Libby didn’t commit any crimes, did not reveal any private information, and did not insult the male student in question. All she did was highlight the public competition to criticize Democrats’ handling of a high-profile issue that Democrats have turned into a make-believe civil rights fight. Democrats put boys and men in girls’ and women’s sports and locker rooms, and are silencing Libby for criticizing that fact.
Libby sued, but she has been ruled against by a Biden-appointed judge and by the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which is made up almost entirely of Democrat appointees. She has filed for emergency relief with the Supreme Court, but Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has been sitting on the petition for days.
If the Supreme Court allows Maine’s actions to stand, it is telling political parties across the state that it is acceptable to forcibly prevent their opponents in the minority from voting based on their opinions on hot-button issues, unless they allow themselves to be blackmailed into an apology. This would be a green light for states to erase the minority party from their legislature and prevent legislators in the minority party from voting on behalf of their constituents.
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This is no different than when Colorado attempted to remove President Donald Trump from the ballot based on crimes he hadn’t been convicted of or even accused of, which the Supreme Court was forced to reverse. This is the majority party in a state abusing its powers to prevent voters from making decisions for themselves, and it will have devastating effects on the country if it is allowed to stand.