An Act to Extend the Protections of the Maine Civil Rights Act to Actions That Cause Emotional Distress or Fear of Violence
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0868
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: HICKMAN, TALBOT ROSS, BAILEY, BALDACCI, CARNEY, DUSON, DHALAC, KUHN, MILLETT, MOONEN
Amends: 5 MRSA §4681, 5 MRSA §4682, 5 MRSA §4684-A

Legislative Document
No. 868
S.P. 365
In Senate, February 24, 2023
An Act to Extend the Protections of the Maine Civil Rights Act to 
Actions That Cause Emotional Distress or Fear of Violence
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator HICKMAN of Kennebec.
Cosponsored by Speaker TALBOT ROSS of Portland and
Senators: BAILEY of York, BALDACCI of Penobscot, CARNEY of Cumberland, DUSON of 
Cumberland, Representatives: DHALAC of South Portland, KUHN of Falmouth, MILLETT of 
Cape Elizabeth, MOONEN of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §4681, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 50, §1, is amended to 
read:
1.  Interference with rights; action by Attorney General.  Whenever any person, 
whether or not acting under color of law, intentionally interferes or attempts to intentionally 
interfere by physical force or violence against a person, damage or destruction of property 
or trespass on property or by the threat of physical force or violence against a person, 
damage or destruction of property or trespass on property with the exercise or enjoyment 
by any other person of rights secured by the United States Constitution or the laws of the 
United States or of rights secured by the Constitution of Maine or laws of the State or 
violates section 4684‑B, the The Attorney General may bring a civil action for injunctive 
or other appropriate equitable relief in order to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment 
of the rights secured. by the United States Constitution or the laws of the United States or 
of the rights secured by the Constitution of Maine or the laws of the State whenever any 
person, whether or not acting under color of law:
A.  Violates section 4684-B; or
B.  Intentionally interferes or attempts to intentionally interfere with the exercise or 
enjoyment by any other person of those secured rights by:
(1)  Physical force or violence against a person;
(2)  Damage or destruction of property or trespass on property;
(3)  Threatening physical force or violence against a person;
(4)  Threatening damage or destruction of property or trespass on property; or
(5)  Engaging in any course of conduct that would cause a reasonable person to 
suffer emotional distress or to fear death or bodily injury to that person or to a close 
relation.  For purposes of this subparagraph, "close relation" and "emotional 
distress" have the same meanings as in Title 17-A, section 210-A, subsection 2, 
paragraph B and paragraph D, respectively.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §4682, sub-§1-A, as reallocated by RR 2001, c. 1, §11, is amended 
to read:
1-A.  Interference with rights; private actions.  Whenever any person, whether or 
not acting under color of law, intentionally interferes or attempts to intentionally interfere 
by physical force or violence against a person, damage or destruction of property or trespass 
on property or by the threat of physical force or violence against a person, damage or 
destruction of property or trespass on property with the exercise or enjoyment by any other 
person of rights secured by the United States Constitution or the laws of the United States 
or of rights secured by the Constitution of Maine or laws of the State or violates section 
4684‑B, the A person whose exercise or enjoyment of these the rights secured by the United 
States Constitution or the laws of the United States or of the rights secured by the 
Constitution of Maine or the laws of the State has been interfered with, or attempted to be 
interfered with, may institute and prosecute in that person's own name and on that person's 
own behalf a civil action for legal or equitable relief. whenever any person, whether or not 
acting under color of law:
A.  Violates section 4684-B; or
B.  Intentionally interferes or attempts to intentionally interfere with the exercise or 
enjoyment by any other person of those secured rights by:
(1)  Physical force or violence against a person;
(2)  Damage or destruction of property or trespass on property;
(3)  Threatening physical force or violence against a person;
(4)  Threatening damage or destruction of property or trespass on property; or
(5)  Engaging in any course of conduct that would cause a reasonable person to 
suffer emotional distress or to fear death or bodily injury to that person or to a close 
relation.  For purposes of this subparagraph, "close relation" and "emotional 
distress" have the same meanings as in Title 17-A, section 210-A, subsection 2, 
paragraph B and paragraph D, respectively.
Sec. 3.  5 MRSA §4684-A, as amended by PL 2021, c. 366, §23, is further amended 
to read:
§4684-A.  Civil rights
For purposes of this chapter and Title 17, section 2931, a person has the right to engage 
in lawful activities without being subject to physical force or violence, damage or 
destruction of property, trespass on property or, the threat of physical force or violence, 
damage or destruction of property or trespass on property or a course of conduct that would 
cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress or to fear death or bodily injury to 
that person or a close relation motivated by reason of race, color, religion, sex, ancestry, 
national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.  For 
purposes of this section, "close relation" and "emotional distress" have the same meanings 
as in Title 17-A, section 210-A, subsection 2, paragraph B and paragraph D, respectively.
SUMMARY
This bill strengthens the protections of the Maine Civil Rights Act by prohibiting a 
person from intentionally interfering or attempting to intentionally interfere with another 
person's exercise or enjoyment of that other person's civil rights by engaging in any course 
of conduct that would cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress or to fear 
violence.  Examples of behavior prohibited under the bill include repeatedly trespassing on 
another person's property to hang or burn a figure in effigy or to fumigate the other person's 
residential property with pesticides when such conduct is motivated by reason of race, 
color, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual 
orientation or gender identity.