Rep. Libby Files Federal Lawsuit Against Speaker Fecteau for Violating Her Constitutional Rights

Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau in the U.S. District Court of Maine for violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by censuring her last month for posting a publicly-available photograph of a trans-sexual identifying high school athlete and stripping her of her ability to speak or vote on behalf of her constituents in the legislature.

Rep. Libby’s suit seeks declaratory relief that her censure violated her rights, and injunctive relief against her silencing and the removal of her voting privileges. It also seeks legal expenses from the defendant for the costs of the action as well as “any other legal and equitable relief the Court may deem just and proper.”

“Instead of having an open and honest debate about the devastating impacts of Maine girls being forced to compete against biological males, Speaker Fecteau and his Democratic colleagues resorted to canceling and silencing me,” Rep. Libby said in a statement issued about the suit.

“Speaker Fecteau and the Democrat majority are risking hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for our schools by stubbornly refusing to address this injustice. I have the constitutional right to speak out and my constituents have the right to full representation in the Maine House. Biological males have no place in girls’ sports. Our girls have every right, under federal law, to fair competition in sports. We will not let them be erased by the Democrat majority advancing a woke progressive agenda,” she continued.

By a 75-70 vote along party lines, the Maine House of Representatives voted to censure Libby on February 25. Since then, she has been unable to speak on behalf of legislation she has sponsored and is effectively barred from representing her 9,000 constituents on critical questions, including those on state spending as the legislature is poised to vote on a $120 million supplemental budget request.

Libby’s suit names as co-plaintiffs a half dozen specific constituents. Her 29-page complaint also cites specific examples of Rep. Fecteau posting photos of students for political purposes and draws attention to the fact that her actions were driven not only to protect female athletes but also to point out that Maine is in violation of an executive order issued by President Donal Trump barring biological males from participating in female school athletics.