To the editor:

As one who helped draft Article 9, Section 23 in 1993 to protect our public lands from private misuse, I am appalled at this court’s action [Maine Supreme Judicial Court in the case of Russell Black et al v. Bureau of Parks and Lands et al.]. This ruling is an insult to the 243,000 Mainers who spoke loudly to protect our public lands. And it is a slap in the face to the Maine Legislature that just last year voted 26-5 in the Senate and 66-52 in the House to assert its right and responsibility under the Constitution to determine this matter. The job of the Supreme Court is to serve the people of Maine and to protect our Constitution. With this ruling, they have instead sucker-punched the people of Maine and subverted our Constitution. Most tragically, they have done so to benefit foreign corporations and illicit transactions that were intentionally hidden from public scrutiny.

State Senator Rick Bennett
Oxford