Law Court Maine Maine Constitution
April 1, 2024 / March 29, 2024 by Joshua Dunlap
The Law Court’s recent decision in Parker v. Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife is fascinating—it is a rare instance when the Court has been called upon to interpret and apply a new constitutional provision. The Maine Constitution has had relatively few amendments, but in 2021 Maine voters approved a “Right to Food Amendment.” Parker […]
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Law Court Maine Maine Constitution US Supreme Court
October 3, 2023 by Joshua Dunlap
As readers of this blog know, state constitutional interpretation has been a matter of discussion here and at the Maine Law Court over the last few years. Maine jurisprudence has seen a revival of the primacy doctrine, which directs state courts to resolve state constitutional issues prior to and independently of any federal constitutional issues. […]
May 17, 2023 / May 18, 2023 by Joshua Dunlap
Last week marked the close of a major legal dispute under Maine law regarding the applicability of retroactive laws to development projects already under construction. The issue in the case was one of fundamental fairness: if a person obtains a valid permit under existing law and then in good faith expends significant sums building a […]
Maine Maine Constitution
January 9, 2023 by Joshua Dunlap
The issue of whether courts should defer to an executive agency’s interpretation of a statute is a familiar one. Going back all the way to Marbury v. Madison, we know that courts decide the meaning of a statute. Courts therefore routinely decide how to interpret ambiguous statutes. But what happens when a statute is ambiguous […]
Appellate Briefs Cross-Appeals Law Court Maine Maine Constitution Rules
July 18, 2022 by Joshua Dunlap
It’s the middle of a beautiful Maine summer, a good time for a few quick hits on some interesting developments . . . First, as I previewed last month, new amendments to the Rules of Appellate Procedure became effective July 13. The new rules streamline certain procedures (such as allowing electronic signatures), make a few […]
March 16, 2022 by Joshua Dunlap
One of the most interesting trends in the Law Court’s jurisprudence (at least in the mind of this blogger) is the continued renaissance of the Court’s primacy doctrine – an issue addressed before on this blog. As explained in two prior blog posts (here and here), the primacy doctrine, generally speaking, directs state courts to […]
COVID-19 Elections Law Court Maine Maine Constitution
October 27, 2020 / October 27, 2020 by Joshua Dunlap
Late last week, the Law Court issued an important election law decision in Alliance for Retired Americans v. Secretary of State. In its opinion, the Court held that Maine’s deadline for receiving absentee ballots (8:00 p.m. on election day) as well as the statutory provisions governing the validation of absentee ballots are not unconstitutional as […]
October 20, 2020 by Joshua Dunlap
Earlier this year, I asked a question on this blog: does the Maine Constitution, now in its 200th year, still matter? Shortly after, I offered a few reasons why it should still matter, including the Maine Constitution’s unique history, the nature of the state-federal relationship, and the doctrine of constitutional avoidance. In the early 1980s, […]
COVID-19 Law Court Maine Constitution
May 4, 2020 / May 1, 2020 by Joshua Dunlap
The coronavirus shut-down has been anything but a slow-down for this attorney-blogger, but it hasn’t entirely prevented me from continuing to muse about the Maine Constitution during its now-cancelled bicentennial celebration. So I thought I would give the Constitution a little more of the attention it is due, despite the coronavirus. (A welcome respite to […]
March 3, 2020 / March 2, 2020 by Joshua Dunlap
On March 15, 2020, Maine turns 200 years old. For any Mainer, especially history buffs, the bicentennial is an occasion worth celebrating. For any legal beagle, the bicentennial is worth celebrating for an additional reason: Maine’s Constitution is also celebrating its 200th birthday. The Maine Constitution was adopted at convention on October 29, 1819, approved […]
