The Hancock County sheriff last June barred a local nonprofit from working with jail inmates battling addiction after the group issued a statement in support of Black Lives Matter.
Sheriff Scott Kane, a Republican who has been in office since 2015, wouldn’t reconsider the move even after the group, the Ellsworth nonprofit Healthy Acadia, revised its statement to less directly address police brutality and avoid mentioning the organization that has spearheaded demonstrations across the U.S. over the past year against racial inequity.
Since then, inmates at the Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth have been without recovery coaches — peer mentors who start working with inmates while they’re incarcerated and help them navigate their recovery once they’re released. Kane said he and his staff have been working to find another group to offer the same service, but have yet to reach an agreement.
Officials in Washington County also objected to Healthy Acadia’s statement, but decided to stick with the group and its recovery coaches in the jail in Machias.
Although Healthy Acadia amended the wording of its statement, Kane said, he thought the organization continued to stand by its endorsement of Black Lives Matter, which he described as a “terrorist group” that advocates for overthrowing the government and the killing of police officers. READ MORE
