PORTLAND — A top constitutional scholar and several of Maine’s legal leaders highlighted their support for the rule of law during a public forum at the University of Southern Maine on Tuesday night, emphasizing the democratic principle that people are accountable to publicly enacted laws that are equally enforced and consistent with human rights.

Their remarks, including statements from Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey, come as the state battles the Trump administration in court over the president’s executive orders and threats to cut funding.

“If we give up, if we lose faith, then we lose the very thing that protects everyone of us at a time when we need it most,” said Mills, who told President Donald Trump earlier this year “see you in court” after he threatened to withhold funding from the state because it allows transgender athletes to participate in girls athletics.

Mills, who announced her campaign for the U.S. Senate earlier in the day, was praised before joining the stage for her decades of experience as a prosecutor in western Maine. As the state’s previous attorney general, Mills frequently butted heads with former Republican Gov. Paul LePage.

She thanked prosecutors and lawyers nationally who she said have stood up to Trump’s threats, including Danielle Sassoon, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who resigned after the president tried pressuring her to drop charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Mills praised judges appointed by both parties who have issued rulings that the president has criticized.

And she commended the civil rights organizations and pro bono firms representing unpopular free speech and those being targeted by Trump’s increased immigration enforcement.

Some of the organizations championing these issues in Maine, such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, are also suing the state for violating indigent criminal defendants’ rights to a court-appointed lawyer. The state’s highest court is considering an appeal to a Kennebec County judge’s ruling that would dismiss charges against people harmed by those constitutional violations.

Mills didn’t address the lawsuit in her remarks.

Carol Garvan, the Maine ACLU’s legal director, said Tuesday that she believes the case fits well with other lawsuits she’s brought, including those dealing with birthright citizenship and the rights of immigrants detained by ICE.

“The most important is the right to counsel because without it, they can’t assert any of their other rights,” said Garvan.

‘WHOLE DIFFERENT SCALE’

Harvard professor Noah Feldman was the event’s keynote speaker and participated in a panel with Frey, Garvan and Maine State Bar Association President Susan Faunce in the event organized by Maine Lawyers for the Rule of Law.

Feldman testified before Congress in 2019 when lawmakers were deciding whether to impeach Trump over military aid to Ukraine and threats to investigate his political rivals.

“I staked everything I had on taking that position,” said Feldman, who repeated several times that his opinion is not partisan. “But this is on a whole different scale. And I truly believe that even the supporters of President Trump agree that this is different, that it’s on a different scale, and that Donald Trump is committed not to the rule of law but to something more of a personal rule.”

Feldman urged his audience to stay engaged and to continue upholding the rule of law in their work, whether as lawyers, elected officials or citizens.

“If you really want to stand up for the rule of law, you have to take the risk,” Feldman said as he discussed lawsuits challenging the Trump administrations’ actions, including a complaint that Harvard filed after Trump pulled its public research funding. A federal judge in Boston agreed to restore funding in September, which the administration appealed.

Maine is involved in 36 lawsuits against the Trump administration, according to Frey’s office. Most are multistate cases dealing with Trump’s threats to public funding. Frey most recently announced a multistate complaint against the Department of Justice after it threatened to withhold funding for survivors of crime in states that don’t comply with immigration enforcement. He said last week that the DOJ dropped its plans after being sued.

Frey’s office is also defending Maine from complaints brought by the Department of Justice involving transgender athletes and private voter information, which have been paused because of the government shutdown.

Frey said Tuesday that he and other states’ attorneys general are engaging the courts because of Congress’ failure to act. Maine has enjoyed some success in district and appeals courts, although no cases have yet reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Why in the world are you holding it back?” Frey asked. “Congress, why aren’t you doing more to tell the president to do the job that he swore to do? Where is Congress?”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that Maine is involved in 36 lawsuits against the Trump administration.