Latest News

RI ACLU Calls Proposed Providence Police Drug Testing Policy “Clearly Illegal”

March 8, 2010

The RI ACLU has sharply blasted a plan announced today by Providence Mayor David Cicilline to “institute random drug testing in the Police Department effective immediately.” The ACLU said the proposal was “clearly illegal” and called it “sadly ironic” for the Department, “in the name of rooting out illegal activity by officers,” to propose a policy that, if implemented, would itself be a crime. read more

East Providence School Committee Sued Over Open Meetings Violation

March 4, 2010

Seeking to halt a disturbing trend by public bodies to unlawfully meet in private, the RI ACLU has, for the second time in six months, filed an Open Meetings Act (OMA) lawsuit against a school committee for violating the law’s provisions governing the holding of executive sessions. Today’s lawsuit, filed against the East Providence School Committee, alleges that the committee illegally met in private on September 8, 2009 to allegedly discuss what it called a “Public Comment Lawsuit.” read more

ACLU Objects to Request by ICE to Be Dropped from Lawsuit Over Death of Immigrant Detainee

March 3, 2010

The Rhode Island ACLU objected today to attempts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be dropped from the federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of the family of a detainee who died while in the custody of immigration officials at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. Hiu Lui “Jason” Ng, the 34-year-old Chinese detainee, died in August 2008 after complaining for months to prison officials about being in excruciating pain. read more

ACLU Appeals Ruling on Narragansett “Orange Sticker” Ordinance

February 18, 2010

The Rhode Island ACLU has today appealed the recent court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Town of Narragansett’s highly-publicized “orange sticker” ordinance. The ordinance authorizes police both to charge tenants and landlords for allowing “unruly gatherings,” and to place orange stickers on houses that have allegedly been the site of such gatherings. The ACLU argued that the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague and that it violated the plaintiffs’ due process rights by allowing police to affix the large orange stickers to the front door of a rental property with no opportunity for a hearing either before or after the posting. read more

Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal Of "Racial Profiling" Lawsuit Against State Police

February 8, 2010

The Rhode Island ACLU today expressed disappointment with a federal appeals court ruling upholding the dismissal of a lawsuit the ACLU filed in 2007 against the R.I. State Police, challenging the legality of the detention and transporting to immigration officials of fourteen people, all Guatemalans, who were stopped in a van on I-95 after the driver changed lanes without using a turn signal. The ACLU lawsuit, filed on behalf of eleven of the individuals, had argued that the detention violated the driver and passengers’ constitutional rights to be free from discrimination and from unreasonable searches and seizures. read more