Individual Rights/Due Process

You have rights

You have the right to fair treatment under the law. Maine Equal Justice advocates for the rights of Mainers with low income who are trying to access government programs to meet their basic needs like food, housing, and health care. Accessing economic security programs can be difficult – the programs are based on different and complicated laws and rules and they are administered by different government offices and departments.

Maine Equal Justice aims to ensure that Maine is a place where people can get the help they need and they are treated fairly in the process.

Your Right to Due Process

Due process is best defined in one word—fairness. It means that the government and other citizens must follow the law and may not be treated unfairly by the government, including the courts.

Here are a few examples of due process that Maine Equal Justice works to protect:

• Due process means that if you apply for government assistance such as Maine Care, TANF, Food Assistance (SNAP), or General Assistance and are denied, you have the right to a hearing to determine if the government acted correctly.
• Due process means that if you are already getting help from a government program you have a right to a hearing before assistance can be taken from you to make sure that the government acted correctly.
• Due process means that before you can be forced to move from your home you have the right to a court hearing and do not have to move unless a judge first orders you to move.
• Due process means that before you can be forced to pay a bill that someone says you may owe, you have the right to go to court and dispute the bill.

Your right against Discrimination

You also have the right not be discriminated against. This means that you may not be treated unfairly because of your race, your gender, your sexual preference, where you were born, or because you pay your rent with general assistance.

Resources

• The American Civil Liberties Union outlines many of the different due process rights in their Know Your Rights briefs.
• The Maine Human Rights Act offers protections for people who feel that they have been discriminated against.