It’s been a while since we’ve discussed what’s been happening at the First Circuit vis-à-vis- Maine, so here’s an update. Nothing too spectacular on the Maine front decision-wise, but the Court is offering a free seminar, with one session in April in Boston, and one in May in Portland, on criminal appellate practice in the First Circuit. They do something like this every five years or so. I went to the last one and it was very good. While most of the schedule is focused on issues of only criminal appellate interest, the beginning of the day has Judge Kayatta speaking, followed by another speaker on issues of generic appellate interest. It’s free and you get CLE (although not ethics, which seems odd, since David Beneman is talking about that for a half-hour). http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/news/federal-criminal-appellate-practice-seminar-0
The Attorney General recently issued an opinion on the constitutionality of proposed legislation to adopt ranked voting, noting that the proposed law presents serious constitutional issues. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3PYp5sROj_1RGNBUldIelk0T1lHVTZ1UTRrSkU3eHZtdFZJ/view?pref=2&pli=1.
Things are hopping on the appellate practice front in Maine. Last month the Maine SJC announced it was creating an advisory committee for the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, and on May 20, the SJC will be giving a CLE on Appellate Practice before the Court. (Appellate Practice Before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court (PRACPRO)
Bryant and the (not so) Final Word
On Tuesday, the Maine SJC issued another decision on the issue of finality before filing an 80B appeal. Bryant v. Town of Camden, 2016 ME 27. Whether the decision achieves the Court’s objectives providing clarity and speeding up administrative appeals remains to be seen.
If you have lived in Maine for any length of time, you remember that in 1979, the Maine Indians claimed 2/3s of the State of Maine. The end result was a settlement, embodied in federal and state statutes, that among other things, gave the tribes federal recognition and $80 million, and set forth reservation boundaries. In an action in which we represented a coalition of municipalities and other users of the Penobscot River, the federal district court confirmed that the Penobscot Reservation does not include, as the Tribe recently claimed, the 60-mile main stem of the Penobscot River. (Order on Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment, Order on the Pending Motions of State Intervenors)