Maine’s highest court has ruled the LePage administration must file a plan to expand Medicaid, even as it fights implementation of the ballot initiative approved by voters last fall. The ruling Thursday by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court delivers a blow to Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who has steadfastly opposed efforts to extend the public health coverage to […]
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High court rules against solar energy rule
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has dismissed a legal challenge to a controversial new solar energy rule, saying the dispute should go to a lower court instead. The ruling Thursday is the latest blow for solar advocates who have fought the state Public Utilities Commission over a new rule that reduces the credit that people […]
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Maine Supreme Court grapples with Medicaid expansion case
Maine Supreme Court justices heard lively arguments Wednesday over whether to allow the LePage administration to continue to delay filing plans with federal officials to expand Medicaid while the larger legal case plays out. Chief Justice Leigh Saufley acknowledged that the court faced a “procedural conundrum” in hearing an appeal of a lower court ruling ordering the LePage administration […]
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Maine’s highest court rules against forced reimbursement for medical marijuana
Maine’s highest court ruled Thursday that federal laws prevent an employer’s workers compensation fund from being forced to pay for medical marijuana treatments. The court, in a 5-2 vote, said its ruling should be considered narrowly, based on a case in which a paper company employee wanted his employer’s worker’s compensation fund to pay for […]
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Maine’s chief justice rules in favor of public access to state court records
Maine’s new electronic court filing system will be available to the public for a fee, the state’s top judge said Thursday. The State Supreme Judicial Court was about to hold a public hearing Thursday morning on the $15 million system, which will allow prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges to file documents online, when Chief Justice […]
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Skeptical high court hears arguments on blocking ranked-choice voting in Maine
Maine’s highest court is likely to rule quickly on legal questions around the state’s first-in-the-nation, ranked-choice voting law after a hearing Thursday marked by the justices’ pointed and skeptical questioning of attorneys involved in the case. The case, which involves the Maine Senate, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap and the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting […]
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Maine chief justice proposes new drug court in response to opioid crisis
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine Chief Justice Leigh Saufley used her annual address to lawmakers Tuesday to propose a new drug court in response to the opioid crisis, provide an update on digitizing court records — and announce that she’s battled breast cancer. Saufley said she was diagnosed last summer thanks to an annual test that […]
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Maine’s high court to decide if state must pay for abortions through MaineCare
Maine’s highest court will decide whether the state can be forced to provide abortions to MaineCare recipients. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine announced Monday that it has appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court after a lower court dismissed its original lawsuit last fall. The ACLU sued in November 2015 on behalf of […]
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Maine’s high court weighing comments on limiting public access to digital records
Maine’s top judge has said she wants the state’s courts to be more open and accessible to the public — including allowing for online access to records the public would otherwise have to view at a courthouse. “The public deserves electronic access to its government,” Leigh Saufley, chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, […]
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Maine court to decide if worker's comp has to pay for medical marijuana
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court will decide if state law requires Workers’ Compensation Insurance to pay for a millworker’s medical marijuana or if the insurer could be charged as an accessory in a drug deal under federal law. Justices are set to hear arguments in the case Wednesday at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta, […]