It has been several months since the Change.org petition to the Maine Legislature was initiated. To date, over 1,000 supporters have signed on. It is my hope this number will continue to grow as reviews and speaking engagements grow in number and more copies of the book are sold, placed in libraries, and distributed to legislators and decision makers. The awareness is growing that Maine’s present intertidal land law lacks common sense, is out of sync with the law in most other coastal states, and is predicated on faulty legal analysis. Also growing is the awareness that judicial mistakes of the past can/should be corrected. Momentum is building to re-examine the Bell cases, to expand public uses in/on Maine’s intertidal lands. We need to accelerate this momentum. I would ask supporters to urge others to sign the petition; to buy and read the book (get better informed); to write local elected officials and members of the Legislature urging them to take the steps (within their power) that will force a reexamination of these cases. In short, this is a task for all us–law trained people, elected officials, and members of the public; an aroused public is critical. Working together we can reclaim Maine’s title to its beaches/intertidal lands and/or expand public uses in/on such lands. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to do just that. The critical link to register your support is https://chn.ge/2L3WS23 [don’t click here; you must get online and copy the link independently].
Thank you for your help.
Orlando Delogu joined the University of Maine School of Law in 1966 and served as a full-time member of the faculty for 40 years and as emeritus professor of law for 11 years. He helped found the Maine Civil Liberties Union and seved on the Board of Environmental Protection, the Portland City Council, and the Portland Planning Board.
