U.S. Supreme Court Review and Preview

U.S. Supreme Court Review and Preview

October 22, 2026

12:00-1:15 p.m. via Zoom

The Cumberland Bar Association is pleased to welcome back ACLU of Maine Legal Director Carol Garvan and Chief Counsel Zach Heiden for a review of the momentous 2025 term of the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as a preview of what we might expect from the 2026 term, which begins October 5. After a brief review of the role of the U.S. Supreme Court, Carol and Zach will provide context for some of the key decisions handed down during the Court’s most recent Term, including discussions of birthright citizenship, privacy, and voting rights. The focus of the program will then turn to the Court’s new term, when the Court will hear cases addressing some of our most fundamental civil rights and civil liberties, including immigration, government accountability, and sex discrimination.

Speakers: Carol Garvan, Esq., and Zach Heiden, Esq., ACLU of Maine

Carol Garvan, Esq.

Carol Garvan is the legal director at the ACLU of Maine. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and her Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley School of Law. During law school, she served as supervising editor for the California Law Review and editor of the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice. She then clerked for Judge Kermit Lipez of the First Circuit for the United States Court of Appeals and Justice Mark Simons of the California Court of Appeal.

Zach Heiden, Esq.

Zach Heiden is chief counsel and director of program and strategy at the ACLU of Maine. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College in 1995, his Master of Arts in Modern Irish and British Literature from the University of Florida in 1998, and his Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School in 2002. Following law school, Zach clerked for the Honorable Susan Calkins on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He is the author of Fences and Neighbors, 17 Law and Literature 225 (2005) and Too Low a Price: Waiver and the Right to Counsel, 62 Maine L. Rev. 488 (2010).

This program is pending one hour of general CLE credit.  Registrants will receive the Zoom login credentials one day before the program.