Leo came under fire recently again for directing nearly $100,000 in secret payments to Ginni Thomas, wife of U.S.

Scrutiny and criticism of Leo has been a national issue. MDI officers violated Eli’s 1st and 4th Amendment rights when they illegally arrested him for the purpose of interfering with his right to protest the political actions of Leonard Leo.” “He was literally arrested in the act of protesting. “Audio from body camera footage of a conversation between law enforcement and plainly reveals that law enforcement arrested Eli for the purpose of imposing bail conditions that would prohibit him from returning to the site of the lawful protest,” Morgan wrote in the motion. He said the allegations against Durand-McDonnell were insufficient and that he never should have been arrested. Morgan later filed a motion to dismiss the charge on the grounds that it violated his client’s right to peacefully protest. As part of his bail conditions, he was told not to have any contact with Leo, but there was no mention of Leo’s family in his bail conditions. Supreme Court.ĭurand-McDonnell was released on bail later that evening from Hancock County Jail. Later that afternoon, Durand-McDonnell joined protests outside Leo’s summer home about Leo’s influence in appointing conservative judges to the U.S. “Eli did absolutely nothing wrong and a dismissal or acquittal was the only appropriate outcome in this case,” Morgan said.ĭurand-McDonnell was accused of cursing at Leo last summer as Leo and his family were walking down Main Street in the central Northeast Harbor village. “We have far more serious cases to focus our attention on.”ĭurand-McDonnell declined to comment, directing inquiries about his case to his defense attorney, Matthew Morgan. “I could not imagine a court would impose anything other than a small fine on a conviction.” Granger said.

That likelihood made it a low-priority for his office at a time when a significant backlog of pending criminal cases means it likely would not otherwise be resolved for a “substantial” period of time, he said. He also said that even if Durand-McDonnell was found guilty of the charge, the resulting punishment likely would be minimal. “As prosecutors, we need to tread very carefully where a prosecution could potentially undermine the constitutional right of free expression.” “There is at times a fine line between protected speech and speech that incites an immediate breach of the peace,” Granger said.

Against Forgetting by Carolyn Forché