Efforts by a group of artists, including a Whitefield woman, have culminated in the filing of a federal lawsuit against Gov. Paul LePage and others in regards to the controversial removal of a mural in the State Dept. of Labor.
The group is also holding a press conference and rally in support of efforts to return the mural to its location at the Dept. of Labor. That rally is scheduled for noon on Mon., April 4 in the Hall of Flags at the State House in Augusta.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday at the federal courthouse in Portland by attorney Jeff Young, according to reports. The suit alleges that Gov. LePage and the co-defendants are in violation of two amendments in the US Constitution because the removal of the mural was based on its message and its removal was not subject to due process of law. The mural depicts historic scenes from the Maine labor movement.
Natasha Mayers, an artist from Whitefield, is one of three artists named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. According to Mayers, the efforts of these artists to incorporate a broad spectrum of protest regarding the removal of the mural led to the decision to bring a lawsuit against Gov. LePage.
“What is astounding about this act of censorship is that the art is not challenging or controversial. No (controversial images) here. No inaccessible metaphors, it’s not too abstract. There are no historical inaccuracies,” Mayers said. “What is challenging and controversial is the governor’s action!”
Gov. LePage’s office had not issued any comment about the lawsuit as of this posting.
Robert Shetterly and Joan Braun are the other two artists named as plaintiffs in the suit.
Other plaintiffs include Don Berry of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and John Newton, an industrial hygienist with the United States Dept. of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The defendants — along with Gov. LePage — are Laura Boyette, Acting Commissioner of the Maine Dept. of Labor and Joseph Phillips, Director of the Maine State Museum.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants acted in violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution.
“The removal of the mural is clearly in violation of the First Amendment, protecting freedom of speech; the Maine government removed the mural because it didn’t agree with the message in the mural,” Young said in a statement. “The mural portrays important moments in Maine’s labor history, and plaintiffs and the people of Maine are being denied the opportunity to learn about that history due to the mural’s removal from the lobby of the Maine Department of Labor.”
The 1st Amendment prohibits infringing on the freedom of speech, impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances, and prohibits the making of any law “respecting an establishment of religion”.
The 14th Amendment guarantees that no state be allowed to abridge the “privileges and immunities” of citizens; guarantees that no person is allowed to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without “due process of law”; that no person can be denied “equal protection of the laws”, and reaffirms State and federal citizenship for all persons regardless of race both born or naturalized in the United States.
The Lincoln County News website will continue to follow the progress of this story and post any additional information here as soon as it becomes available.
