Oct 14, 2025 • 7:00 pm
Join us for a Public Forum
Standing up for the Rule of Law: How do we save it?
Hannaford Hall
88 Bedford Street, Portland Maine 04101
(free parking in the attached garage included)
Opening Remarks
Governor Janet T. Mills, Maine’s first female governor and former Attorney General, has built her career on a commitment to public service and upholding the rule of law. A former prosecutor and the first woman elected District Attorney in New England, she has championed improving healthcare access, strengthening Maine’s communities and economy, and bipartisan problem-solving on behalf of Maine people.
Keynote speaker
Noah Feldman, a Harvard Law Professor, national expert on constitutional law and democratic governance, and recognized for his exceptional ability to explain legal concepts to the public. He will speak on what is and is not the Rule of Law, how it is foundational to our constitutional democracy and system of equal justice for all, what is a challenge to the Rule of Law, and what we lawyers and all Mainers can and must do to defend and strengthen it.
Credit to Mark James Dunn
Panelists
Aaron Frey
Attorney General of Maine
Carol Garvan
Legal Director of The ACLU of Maine
Susan Faunce
President of the Maine State Bar Association
Co-Sponsors
ACLU Maine
Cumberland Bar Association
Maine AFL-CIO
Maine League of Women’s Voters
Maine Chapter of Federal Bar Association
Maine Council of Churches
Maine Education Association
Maine Employment Lawyers Association
Maine Justice Foundation
Maine State Bar Association
Maine State Employees Association
Maine Trial Lawyers Association
Media Sponsor
The event will be free of charge, but please consider a generous donation. We need to raise $30,000 to cover the costs of this event.
We are Maine lawyers dedicated to protecting due process and the right to independent counsel for all, and the rule of law, not rule by the powerful.
Every person and organization deserves fair representation, a cornerstone of our democracy. Attempts to intimidate or punish lawyers for fulfilling their duties undermine justice and threaten our constitutional system. We call on government, the legal community, and the public to reject such efforts and to stand with us in defending fairness, accountability, and democracy.
The steering committee for Maine Lawyers for the Rule of Law:
- Christopher B. Branson, Esq.
- William S. Harwood, Esq.
- Cathy Lee, Esq.
- Peter L. Murray, Esq.
- Carol L. Sipperly, Esq.
- David G. Webbert, Esq.