Category Archives: Governance

Brett Kavanaugh and the Court of Last Resort

Given all that has been said, often with uncommon courage and insight, out loud and in print, about Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, what more can an observer say? Probably nothing, but this is a moment too terrible for silence, so I must spill a few words of my own. I’m a practicing lawyer. Lawyers […]

Charlottesville

I had planned to break my long writing hiatus with some thoughts about the Maine Legislative session that finally came to a close on August 2, roughly 6 weeks behind schedule. But that will have to wait again, because of what happened Saturday, in Charlottesville, Virginia, when white nationalists, white supremacists, Nazis, and other racists […]

Town Meeting, State Budget

Yesterday, as I have almost every year since the mid-80’s, I had the privilege of moderating the annual town meeting in the place where I live, Leeds, Maine. This exercise in pure democratic government always inspires me. There are challenging moments, when people annoy or confuse each other, but it always works out. My job […]

Budgets: Love, War, and Poverty

At least once every two years, Maine’s constitution says, the Governor will propose and the Legislature will consider, revise, and adopt a budget for the operation of the state’s government.  A similar process occurs at the federal level, with the President proposing and Congress voting into law the spending authorizations and priorities of our nation.  […]