I write this letter to call for the resignation of Hancock County Sheriff Scott Kane. It recently came to light that Sheriff Kane cut ties with the Ellsworth-based non-profit Healthy Acadia over a personal objection to the non-profit’s support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Healthy Acadia had been providing services to inmates in Hancock County Jail struggling with substance-use disorder (SUD) since 2017, before Sheriff Scott Kane cut ties with the group last June. Since June of 2020, there has been no program in place to help incarcerated people in the jail with SUD.
Sheriff Kane took an oath that he would “support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the state wherein he is elected,” an oath that Kane has violated with his decision to cut ties with Healthy Acadia. The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression. By cutting ties with Healthy Acadia solely based on the group’s support for Black Lives Matter, Sheriff Kane violated his oath of office to uphold the Constitution by trampling on the group’s right to freedom of expression as guaranteed in the First Amendment.
Kane’s actions illustrate that he is unfit for office and cannot uphold his duty as Hancock County Sheriff. Kane allowed his irrelevant partisan affiliation to influence him to the point of violating his oath to uphold the Constitution and thus should resign immediately.
Wyatt Barnes
Porter
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