PORTLAND (AP) – After relying on volunteer lawyers throughout its 26-year history, the Maine Civil Liberties Union has hired its first staff attorney.

Director Louise Roback says having a lawyer on staff will enable the legal watchdog organization to respond more quickly to free speech and other civil rights issues that present themselves.

Since taking the job in late February, Zachary Heiden has convinced a federal judge to waive some fees imposed by the city of Augusta against anti-war protesters.

He also has negotiated with Portland officials on behalf of critics of the Roman Catholic Church who wanted to demonstrate outside the Immaculate Conception Cathedral before the installation of Bishop Richard Malone.

They were the kind of actions the MCLU probably would not have been able to tackle in the past, Roback says.

“(Now) we can run into court on a moment’s notice to get a temporary restraining order,” Roback said. “We have a wonderful group of volunteer lawyers and we are still going to rely on their time and talent. But this means a big boost for us.”

Heiden, 30, says the opportunity to argue issues involving the freedom to assemble and the separation between church and state make working for the MCLU a dream job.

“I was always interested in constitutional law and legal history,” he said. “When I was in law school, I always hoped it would be something I could do professionally.”

A graduate of Bowdoin College and Boston College Law School, Heiden spent last year as a clerk for Justice Susan Calkins of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

With the MCLU, Heiden will follow the latest court decisions from around the country that could have an impact in Maine, Roback says.

“The laws have been evolving, and expertise in First Amendment issues is very specialized,” she said. “When we go to court, he is fully up to speed.”

Roback says she hopes the MCLU will become involved in changing Maine’s marriage laws to include lesbian and gay couples.

She expects it will become an issue here after legal gay marriages begin in Massachusetts and couples seek to have those unions recognized here.

“What happens if someone is married down there and has to move to Maine?” she said. “They may want to sue.”

AP-ES-04-12-04 0217EDT