PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Mark Eves' attorney David Webbert will file a federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday for Speaker Mark Eves against Gov. Paul LePage in the U.S. District Court in Portland.
The suit is not a surprise, as Eves' attorney David Webbert said several weeks ago a suit was coming. Eves said the governor violated the First Amendment by threatening to take away state funds unless the Goodwill Hinckley school fired Eves as its president.
"He was very explicit in the fact that he was withholding this half million dollars to put at risk two more million dollars in private investment, that the school would have defaulted if the governor did withhold that money. The board made their decision. This type of political vendetta is really out of control. I think the general population and public here in Maine understands that politics is politics, but people's personal lives, you don't mess with," said Eves.
Eves alleges that LePage threatened the Good Will-Hinckley School to either fire him or lose over $500,000 in budgeted state funds and thereby lose another $2,000,000 in private funding. Eves' lawyer David Webbert said they have the threat in writing.
Webbert said in a press release to all media that the the lawsuit is, "solely against the Governor and not the State."He and Eves claim the governor's actions are an "abuse of power" and violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Adrienne Bennett, LePage's press secretary, sent out a written statement saying, "This is a political lawsuit. It has no legal merit and is the Democrats' concerted attempt to accomplish what they couldn't at the ballot box inside a courtroom."
Eves and Webbert said they are filing the suit, in part, to stop LePage from using similar tactics to threaten the jobs of other people, including other legislators, who speak out against him. They have also asked the court for unspecified damages, including punitive damages, for Eves' loss of the $125,000 per-year job.
