Poland attorney Luppi honored by Campaign for Justice

HALLOWELL — Attorney Faye Luppi, of Poland, has been awarded the Peter J. DeTroy III Award by the Campaign for Justice for her work to reduce domestic violence.
Luppi has led the Violence Intervention Partnership of Cumberland County Government for 20 years. The Campaign for Justice, begun in 2004, raises more than $600,000 each year to help Mainers who cannot afford a lawyer for civil legal needs such as eviction, family law, loss of benefits and immigration. The campaign benefits six providers of civil legal aid: Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Legal Services for the Elderly, Maine Equal Justice, Pine Tree Legal Assistance and Volunteer Lawyers Project.
Leigh I. Saufley, dean of the University of Maine School of Law and former cheif justice of the Maine Supremen Judicial Court, presented the award to Luppi with these words. “Faye’s persistent, steadfast, and data-based approach to addressing intimate violence has been an incredible resource for Maine, both for the prosecutorial and defense bar, and for jurists and many others in the field.
“All of Faye’s work has led to greatly improved communication between and among those groups and agencies with responsibility for responding to domestic violence. Thanks to her work, victims of domestic violence in Maine can reach out to a system that will provide immediate help, transition resources, and very careful life-saving advice.”
Luppi said it’s an honor to receive an award created in memory of Peter DeTroy, “a man of great and selfless spirit whose legacy lives on through this award and in his many contributions to justice in Maine.”
“I would like to thank the campaign for Justice for recognizing the work that I do behind the scenes, and especially to thank the leadership at Cumberland County government for supporting me and the Violence Intervention Partnership for the past 20 years.”
Luppi added, “The services provided by our legal aid agencies in Maine can significantly reduce the likelihood that an individual survivor of domestic violence will continue to be abused. We should be expanding services to provide what clients need to become self-sufficient because ‘long-term, realistic alternatives to their relationships’ are more likely to lower the overall incidence of domestic violence, according to a 2017 economic study. Self-sufficiency and alternatives are only possible with the kind of safety net and lifelines enabled by the services of Maine Equal Justice and all of the other agencies supported by the Campaign for Justice.”
The Campaign for Justice created the award in 2017 in honor of DeTroy, who died in 2016. The award is given to an individual who has worked to remove barriers for people who are vulnerable, to advance justice in Maine, and to further the good of the community, especially an individual whose work has been unheralded.
The Maine Justice Foundation, founded in 1983 as the Maine Bar Foundation, administers the Campaign for Justice and is the state’s leading funder of civil legal aid for poor and vulnerable Mainers. Find the Campaign online at www.campaignforjustice.org and the Foundation at www.justicemaine.org.