Letter to Portland Press Herald
A Labor Day weekend incident involving a woman who ordered children playing paddleball to leave shows the need to help the public grasp their legal right to enjoy the beach.
On Labor Day weekend a woman was recorded approaching a group of young children playing paddleball on Moody Beach, angrily ordering them to leave, and threatening to call the police if they refused. The video was shared widely and made the local news. This is a scene we witness increasingly every summer as more “Private Beach” signs are erected and more of us are confronted for simply trying to enjoy Moody Beach. We, the public, are packed onto 1% of Moody Beach while the rest lays virtually empty.
As the Maine intertidal land litigation makes its way through the courts, we’ve repeatedly asked the town of Wells to step up and help its people, and we’ve outlined several ways they can do so under the current law. So far, they have done nothing.
It’s time for both the town of Wells and the state of Maine to publicly take a stand and overturn the erroneous and unconstitutional 1989 ruling that turned Maine beaches into hostile environments. Those children and others like them will carry with them forever the memory of that moment of fear that they could be arrested simply for playing a game on the beach. Is this the legacy Maine wants to leave to its children?
Jeannie Connerney
Free Moody Beach
Wells
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