The Maine SJC is on the move. The newspaper says the Court will hold two sessions a year in Augusta and two in Bangor (Former Kennebec County Courthouse ready to host high court). It does the Tour o’ Maine in October. It only holds nine argument sessions a term according to their on-line calendar [http://www.courts.maine.gov/maine_courts/supreme/calendar.shtml], so this means that the Court will now spend a majority of their time on the road. Back to riding the circuit?
Constitution Day
On the federal front, I received a notice that the Maine federal district court will (apparently on Sept. 17, but the press release is a little unclear),
observe the 228th anniversary of the Constitution of the United States and the 226th anniversary of the federal courts, which were established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. The District of Maine was one of the original thirteen district courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. A district court was created in each of the eleven states that ratified the Constitution by September, 1789, as well as in Maine (then a part of Massachusetts) and Kentucky (then a part of Virginia). The first judge of the Court was David Sewall of York who was appointed by President George Washington in September, 1789.
The ceremony will be held at 10:00 a.m. at the University of Southern Maine, Abromson Center Hannaford Hall Auditorium, located at 88 Bedford Street in Portland, Maine. For more information about the ceremony, contact Clerk of Court Christa K. Berry at (207) 780-3356.”
So, what do they have in store? Maybe a performance of that Broadway hit Hamilton, with rapping about our Founding Fathers?
Coffin lecture
Finally, mark your calendars, the Coffin Lecture this year on October 29 will come from one of our favorite people, Mary Bonauto, of GLAD, often called the Thurgood Marshall of the LGBTQ community. She argued Obergefell last term at the Supremes, is a whizbang speaker, and a very nice person to boot. (She’s also said nice things about us in this video).
Don’t miss it!