Democratic Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) has filed his official response to Rep. Laurel Libby’s (R-Auburn) lawsuit against him for violating her rights as an elected legislator by censuring her earlier this year.
Rep. Libby was censured by a party-line vote in February brought by House Democrat leadership for posting a viral image on social media that identified a biologically male athlete who took first place in a girls’ track and field contest.
After she refused to apologize for the post — a condition of her censure — Speaker Fecteau stripped Libby of her right to vote and speak on the floor of the Maine House of Representatives.
Libby still retains her right to sponsor legislation, present motions, engage in committee work, and testify at public hearings.
In early March, Libby sued Fecteau for allegedly violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by preventing her from speaking and voting
Fecteau pushed back against these allegations Monday in a written statement opposing Libby’s request for an injunction, suggesting that none of her rights have been violated as a result of the fallout from her censure.
“If a legislator refuses to comply with the conditions of censure imposed by the House, the House must be able to punish that contumaciousness,” Fecteau wrote, characterizing Libby’s actions as stubborn disobedience.
[RELATED: House Dems Strips Laurel Libby’s Voting Rights Over Viral FB Post of Male Athlete Beating Girls]
Libby’s suit seeks declaratory relief that her censure violated her rights, as well as injunctive relief to remedy her silencing and the removal of her voting privileges by restoring these rights.
As is often done, the suit 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,” Libby said in a statement issued about the suit.
Libby’s suit names as co-plaintiffs a half dozen specific constituents, as she has been effectively prevented from representing their interests in the State House since her censure earlier this year.
Her 29-page complaint also cites specific examples of Fecteau posting photos of students for political purposes — underscoring her contention that she acted no differently than her accusers do themselves, and that her conduct was within the norms of practice for a state legislator.
Libby further suggests that her actions were driven by a desire to both protect female athletes and highlight that Maine is in violation of President Donald Trump’s (R) executive order barring biological males from participating in female school athletics.
[RELATED: Rep. Libby Files Federal Lawsuit Against Speaker Fecteau for Violating Her Constitutional Rights]
On Monday, Fecteau filed his official opposition to Libby’s motion for an injunction against the effects of her censure, arguing that she fails to demonstrate a likelihood to succeed on the merits of her case.
According to Fecteau, the fallout from Libby’s censure is protected by “legislative immunity,” which guarantees that lawmakers have no liability for legislative acts under most circumstances.
Following this logic, Fecteau suggests that because the House is expressly empowered to enact rules and punish members for violating them, his decision to strip Libby of her power to speak and vote is protected by legislative immunity.
“It does not matter that the punishment imposed by the House precludes Rep. Libby from voting on the House floor or engaging in debate on the House floor,” said Fecteau. “The relevant distinction is between legislative acts and non-legislative acts, not between forms of discipline.”
Fecteau then argues that Libby has no grounds to claim that her First Amendment rights have been violated because voting on legislation is not a protected right.
“Rep. Libby incorrectly presumes that as a state legislator, she can raise a First Amendment retaliation claim against Defendants based on the votes of the Maine House,” he said. “She may not.”
“Rep. Libby does not have a First Amendment right to vote on any particular piece of legislation that comes before the House, and absent a right to vote she has no right to debate those bills,” Fecteau argued.
He also pushed back against Libby’s assertion that her Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by the fallout from her censure.
According to Fecteau, the state’s “important regulatory interests” generally permit “reasonable, non-discriminatory restrictions” on constitutional rights.
“The House’s interests furthered by the censure are compelling,” he argued. “Here, the damage Rep. Libby inflicted on the House’s reputation and integrity was considerable.”
“In violation of that Code, Rep. Libby singled out a child based on their gender identity and, without the child’s consent, nationally publicized their name, school, and photograph, in the course of condemning the child’s participation in a school event,” said Fecteau.
In conclusion, Fecteau argued that the House must retain the authority to punish members for failing to comply with rules.
“The balance of equities and the public interest lie with Defendants, and ensuring that the House can enforce rules to which all members have agreed,” he concluded.
The court will now be tasked with deciding whether or not to grant Libby’s request for an injunction that would prevent Fecteau from enforcing the prohibitions on speaking and voting while the lawsuit unfolds.
Fecteau, you are a liar and need to be removed from your post. Disgusting embarrassment you, Mills Blowhard Bellows and your den of snakes have made our state.
No problem, what goes around comes around. I foresee all democrats being censured after the next election.
Let this sink in Ryan “I’m not queer, my boyfriend is” Fecteau and Janet “see-you-in-court” Mills. Department of Agriculture halts federal funding for Maine over men in women’s sportshttps://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/department-agriculture-halts-federal-funding-maine-over-men-womens?utm_source=breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/department-agriculture-halts-federal-funding-maine-over-men-womens?utm_source=breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
Fecteau and his army of queer woman haters will reap what they have sown .
This will not go away until the 2026 elections when ALL the democrats will be sent home .
People WILL NOT FORGET what this asshole and his little group of perverted friends has done to women’s rights in the name of transvestite justice .
ANY Democrat who supports this injustice will suffer the consequences .
Perversion, corruption,wickedness, transgression and deception is all they have.
The underlying values of leftism are envy, hate, resentment, unequal treatment under the law and violence.
Women’s sports are not a backup option for mediocre male athletes.
How are we going to recover from this stupidity?
Fecteau is setting a terrible precedent should he win — it will mean that the majority can strip any member of the right to vote and debate for anything the member does elsewhere.
Examples that come to immediate mind are attending a gay pride event where someone else — some nut that the member doesn’t even know — does something.
Heck, going to a high school basketball game where someone does something — there aren’t drunken schmucks at basketball games? Yet by being present, by Fecteau’s precedent, the legislator can be silenced for having disgraced the body.
As to posting a picture of a member of a protected group, before trannies, over 400% of the population were a member of at least one protected group. So how many Dems can we boot for (perhaps inadvertently) posting a picture of someone in a protected group?
John Martin in the ’80s was arrogant, but he wasn’t stupid enough to do something like this.
And what I don’t see Libby raising is the fact that Fecteau is making an end run around the requirement he have a 2/3 vote to expel a member, which is what he has done.
“In violation of that Code, Rep. Libby singled out a child based on their gender identity and, without the child’s consent, nationally publicized their name, school, and photograph, in the course of condemning the child’s participation in a school event,” said Fecteau.
Ok, where did she get the photo, and where did she get the child’s name?
First and foremost, a minor can’t consent — you’d think that Fecteau would know that.
But parents can, and parents signed a permission slip for the child to participate in the sport to begin with, and that, along with the school rules and state athletic rules, includes a waiver of release. In other words, the parent(s) gave ANYONE permission to mention the child’s name and to photograph the child.
The flip side of this is that children who are involved in a stalking situation often CAN’T participate in athletics because it would identify where the child is.
The photographs that the school posted are thus in the public domain, no permission is needed — and what’s really asinine here is that Libby did NOT “single the child out based on [its] gender identity” — I’m fairly certain that she would be equally adamant that boys identifying as boys ought not play girls sports.
To make a discrimination case, you have to show where the person treated persons who weren’t members of the protected class differently. So if she was praise Tom, Dick, & Harry who participated as males and THEN condemn this it for playing, THEN there would be a case. But not without…
Furthermore, it was Fecteau’s expulsion of Libby that made this a national issue, both she and this child were complete unknowns (outside Maine) BEFORE FECTEAU PUBLICIZED THE WHOLE MATTER. He’s never heard of the “Streisand Effect?”
So perhaps Fecteau ought to be censored for publicizing the child???
One other thing — singular objects are male, female, or neuter — it comes from the Latin.
Hence a single individual is either he, she, or it.
An animate (alive) object is considered male unless actual sex is known.
An inanimate object (e.g. ship) is considered female and hence an aircraft carrier is referred to as she.
“Their” means MORE THAN ONE — unless one is schizophrenic and thinks that one is multiple people.
Romance language, e.g. French, are even more gendered and you’d think that Fecteau would know that, even if he doesn’t know that it also comes from the Latin.
As an aside, the name Fecteau is derived from the Old French word “fecte,” which translates to “made” or “done.” I’ll leave that without comment….
One other thing — Fecteau is exactly why term limits were established way back when.
People were upset with the Earl of Eagle Lake, John Martin, and it was never intended that one would take a term off and then come back AS SPEAKER again…
And the other thing — he works for Catalist as an “account executive” — or at least started that job in 2020 when he was Speaker then. Catalist is a for-profit corporation based in Washington DC that operates a voter database and works for progressive causes.
See: https://catalist.us/
How is this not a conflict of interest???
So I guessing that what Dr Ed is saying here in four words or less is :
“ Fecteau Is An Asshole “
Stubborn disobedience’ I heard that a lot from the nuns in grade school! That was in 1960! This fool Fecteau is supposed to be an adult ! C’mon man!
All I can say is that this so called “leadership” in our beautiful state has made us the laughing stock of the country and its getting embarrassing to say that I’m a Mainer! How Nanna Mills and her cohort of minions that follow her every thought can call themselves representatives of the people of this state (the legal ones anyway) is disgusting. I can’t wait for their time to come just as the idiots in Washington have learned recently.
It’s time of us to stand up and shout loudly and clearly my brothers and sisters from the right! And not just in protected forums! In the streets so that the idiots can hear!
Who are the corrupt attorneys pushing forward this idiotic legal argument?
Of course an elected representative has rights to speak in behalf of her constituents. This isn’t an individual Fist Amendment violation, this is even more fundamental – the Speaker silenced whole towns.
His lawyers understand that – I hope
“New Mainer” asks who the lawyers are backing Fecteau? I have not idea who they are, but there is an outfit in PWM that works under the intials of D. W. who might be a good fit.
These people are just plan scum ! They hate us and what we stand for ! Our God given rights and freedoms. How obvious can it be to a NORMAL person!? The looser democrats approval is at 21% !!!!!! the only people who approve of them are the sick pedo’s and the poor disturbed kids who they brainwashed to belueve they were the other sex ! They have 0 , NOTHING to offer the people of maine or our country , except , wait for it…. TRUMPS BAD ! T.D.S. their sick in the head.
Dr. Ed, 100 thumbs up for your valuable input!
Lets start his recall.
While I’m very grateful to have The Maine Wire covering this story, it’s still not being covered in the local news. I suggest contacting your local TV station and asking why. I wrote to WAGM’s news director, Kelly O’Mara yesterday ( no reply, which is what I expected ) but if there is a concerted effort to reach out to ALL Maine TV stations they might not be able to ignore the story.
“contumaciousness”
Wowser! That’s a big boy word; I wonder where Feccy picked it up.
Has anyone asked the Speaker to define what a “woman” is, and what a “man” is? And the Governor should be asked the same question.
Actually, first, Speaker should be asked if he is a man. If he says yes, ask him how he knows. If he refuses to answer, ask him why he won’t answer?
Then ask the Governor if she is a woman. Follow up in the same manner; how does she know, or why won’t she answer?
This should be the first response to anyone who supports the perversion of Title IX, and who supports instead it’s violation by Maine “Human Rights” law.
I’d love to see each of the above caught on camera with their answers.
Of course, a written submission could be tendered to each, starting with are you a man, a woman, or neither, with appropriate follow-ups.
How about this….?
Libby For Governor
Maine wake up and get rid of this idiot with his friends. Libby for governor!
Laurel has a bigger set than most Maine Republicans, I feel she will be vindicated in this. Mills and her boy will have a huge struggle ahead when the voters hopefully wake up to the damage they have done.
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I have to admit, Rep. Libby is a very attractive woman!
The male student’s photo and identity had already be published nationally by other outlets prior to Libby’s doing so. Fecteau is wrong to have had Libby censured. It’s obvious that he is either not sufficiently knowledgeable to hold his position in the legislature or he is corrupt.