Access to housing is a multifaceted issue facing communities and states across the country, and Maine is no exception. Since 2013, housing vacancy rates have dipped from 3% to 1.4% in 2023. Both rates are well below the national average. Many lawmakers, nonprofits, and scholars say it is one of the most pressing policy issues currently facing Maine.
In response to Maine’s affordable housing crisis, the University of Maine School of Law’s three student-run journals have organized a symposium to discuss state housing policy. “A Place to Call Home” will take place on April 4, 2025 from 9 am to 3 pm at the law school, located at 300 Fore Street, Portland, ME. The event will gather legal scholars and legal aid attorneys from across the state to discuss the crisis and propose policy solutions. The discussion topics will include eviction proceedings, rights of the unhoused, discrimination based on tenant data, among other critical issues and their potential solutions.
The three Maine Law journals hosting this event include Maine Law Review, Ocean and Coastal Law Journal, and Student Journal of Information Privacy Law. Maine Law Dean and President, Leigh Saufley, noted that Maine Law student organizations have a long history of taking up the challenges of the state’s most pressing policy and legal issues.
“From the efforts of our legal aid clinic, to those of our student organizations, to our faculty research program, Maine Law is increasingly demonstrating that it is an incubator for innovative ideas and collaborative problem-solving within the State of Maine,” Saufley added.
For more information or to register to attend the symposium follow this link: https://shorturl.at/WEbSG.
