Appeals court sides with LePage in legal feud with former House speaker

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Paul LePage was within his rights as governor when he threatened to withhold more than $1 million in funding for a charter school if it hired his political rival, then-House Speaker Mark Eves.

Three of the court’s six judges issued a concurrent ruling, however, warning that while LePage enjoyed “qualified immunity” based on the specific details of this case, government officials shouldn’t see the decision as a sign they can legally wield funding as a coercive tool in the future.

The decision appears to put an end to a four-year legal battle after LePage threatened to cut his discretionary funding for Fairfield-based charter school operator Good Will-Hinckley because it agreed to hire Eves as its president in 2015. The organization backed out of the hiring after the threat of funding cuts.

The full appeals court Wednesday affirmed 2016 rulings by a smaller appeals court panel and the district court, saying LePage could do that under what’s known as the policymaker exception.

Read more: https://bangordailynews.com/2019/06/20/politics/appeals-court-sides-with-lepage-in-legal-feud-with-former-house-speaker/