ACLU of Maine to Honor Sara Gagné-Holmes of Readfield with Annual Scolnik Award

Attorney Has Dedicated Her Career to Ensuring Equal Access to Justice for All

April 6, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

PORTLAND – The ACLU of Maine is proud to announce that Sara Gagné-Holmes of Readfield is the recipient of the 2015 Justice Louise Scolnik Award. The award will be presented at a dinner and celebration on Thursday, April 30 at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport.

“The ACLU of Maine has been fortunate to work with Sara and her colleagues on several cases aimed at securing the rights of all people in Maine,” said Alison Beyea, executive director of the ACLU of Maine. “She truly represents the undeniable intersection of economic justice and civil liberties.”

Gagné-Holmes is a senior program associate with the John T. Gorman Foundation, whose mission is to advance ideas and opportunities that can improve the lives of disadvantaged people in Maine. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served for eight years as the executive director of Maine Equal Justice Partners (MEJP), a nonprofit, civil legal aid and advocacy organization representing individuals with low income in the courts, before administrative agencies, and in the legislature. Under Gagné-Holmes, MEJP joined with the ACLU of Maine in Juma v. Mayhew, on behalf of Maine immigrants wrongly denied access to General Assistance, and Bruns v. Mayhew, on behalf of an immigrant denied MaineCare coverage.

The featured speaker at the event is Daniel L. Greenberg. For the last seven years, Greenberg has collaborated with the New York Civil Liberties Union on an historic class action lawsuit that will result in significant reforms to the indigent defense system in five New York counties.

The Scolnik Award was established in 1989 to honor members of the legal community who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the protection of civil liberties. The award is named for former Maine Supreme Court Justice Louis Scolnik, a co-founder and the first president of the Maine Civil Liberties Union (now the ACLU of Maine). Justice Scolnik, who is 92, will play the saxophone at the event along with his jazz band, the Smedley Trio.

More information is available here: http://www.aclumaine.org/2015-justice-louis-scolnik-award-dinner