The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Andrew Schmidt of Portland is a civil rights attorney.
What state Rep. Laurel Libby did was indefensible to me: recklessly identifying a transgender teenager online, exposing her to harassment and even physical harm. It was a gross violation of decency and basic respect — of a girl who deserves our full support, protection, and kindness.
But I don’t believe Libby’s misconduct justifies stripping her constituents of their voice by banning her from voting on legislation. That response punishes voters, not wrongdoing. It undermines representative democracy — and sets a precedent that could one day silence any of us.
Mainers hold dear the principle that the governed must have a voice in government. That principle runs so deep that when it was threatened 250 years ago, Mainers marched. Today, the Maine House has done something unprecedented: it stripped a sitting legislator of her vote, cutting off her district’s representation. This isn’t about Libby. It’s about the people’s right to a voice in Augusta.
As enshrined in Article I, Section 2 of the Maine Constitution:
“All power is inherent in the people; all free governments are founded in their authority and instituted for their benefit; they have therefore an unalienable and indefeasible right to institute government, and to alter, reform, or totally change the same, when their safety and happiness require it.”
Holding Libby accountable matters. But accountability and disenfranchisement are not the same thing.
There’s a clear difference between punishing a legislator and disenfranchising an entire legislative district. Tools exist to address misconduct: public condemnation, committee removal, fines — and the ultimate tool, the ballot box. I don’t know of another time in American history when a Legislature simply removed a district’s voice in this way.
Even expulsions — rare and serious — preserve the people’s right to choose. In 2023, Bowdoin College graduate Justin Pearson was expelled from the Tennessee House; voters had final say, and he won in a special election. The Maine Constitution provides a similar path. Article IV, Part Third, Section 4 allows the Legislature to expel a member by a two-thirds vote — but not twice for the same offense. That safeguard prevents majority factions from silencing opposition and ensures the final decision rests with voters.
That power cannot be overridden by disguising expulsion as something lesser. Functionally expelling a legislator by removing their vote, without triggering any process that returns the decision to the people, I believe, bypasses both the Constitution’s super majority requirement and the voters it’s meant to protect.
Some argue Libby could apologize and regain her vote, or that her constituents are simply getting what they asked for by electing a firebrand. But rights aren’t rewards for obedience, and voters aren’t punished for making unpopular choices. Representation flows from the people. It can be removed only through elections or the formal, constitutional process of expulsion outlined in Article IV.
If we accept that political majorities can silence disfavored districts by sidestepping these safeguards, we no longer have a democracy. I fear we have a permission slip to silence opposition.
This matters far beyond Libby. Imagine a Republican-controlled U.S. House stripping Rep. Chellie Pingree of her vote for defending abortion rights on Facebook — and justifying it by claiming she was putting babies at risk. We’d call it authoritarian overreach. If it can happen to them today, it will happen to us tomorrow.
Yes, the Legislature has the power to govern its members. But with that comes a solemn duty: to protect the public’s right to representation. When a Legislature mutes one of its own, it risks damaging not only democratic norms but the peaceful mechanisms for compromise. History shows that when those mechanisms break down, extremism rises in their place.
This isn’t about defending Rep. Libby. It’s about defending the people’s right to choose their representatives — and to do so through the Constitution, not legislative fiat. The Maine House should admit its mistake, condemn the misconduct, and restore the people’s voice. Because if we abandon process in the name of principle, we lose both.