ACLU of RI's Work in Defense of ALL

In affirmation of the fundamental principle espoused by the ACLU that the Bill of Rights applies to all, even those who do not support the ACLU, below is a list of some of the cases filed by the ACLU of Rhode Island over the years in support of the rights of police officers, correctional guards, anti-abortion activists, gun owners and other people the ACLU purportedly never helps.

1975. Reilly v. Noel. Successful challenge in federal court to an attempt by the Governor to prohibit prayer services in the rotunda of the State House.

1976. Hartt v. DES Board of Review. Lawsuit against the state unemployment agency which had held that a wife had “good cause” to leave her job to follow her husband, but not vice versa, in denying benefits to a man for the same reason.

1978. Dutra v. RI Department of Environmental Management. “Friend of the court” brief arguing it was a violation of due process for a police chief to fire an officer after a statutorily created hearing panel decided the plaintiff should only be suspended.

1982. Mellen v. R.I. Lottery Commission. Successful federal challenge, on behalf of an unendorsed Democratic “right to life” candidate, to a state law allowing only political party committees to hold raffles to raise funds for political cam­paigns.

1983. Scimacco v. Town of East Greenwich. Favorably settled federal challenge to discipline of a police officer for violating a departmental “gag rule” barring officers from talking to the media without permission.

1988. Dessler v. Teamsters Local 251. Favorably settled federal lawsuit against labor union officials on behalf of a person who was publicly censured by his union after writing a critical letter about the union to a local newspaper.

1988. Tucker v. Glocester Police Department. Favorably settled administrative complaint challenging the use on police applicants of a standar­dized psychological test which asked questions relating to fundamentalist religious beliefs.

1990. Town of Barrington v. Blake. “Friend of the court” brief in support of anti-abortion protesters challenging the constitutionality of a town ordinance limiting residential picketing.

1990. Grant v. City of East Providence. Successful lawsuit on behalf of a police officer challenging an ordinance requiring him to quit his job in order to run for public office.

1991. Anthony v. Sundlun. “Friend of the court” brief in federal court in support of seven Republicans fired from their seasonal jobs at Newport Jai Alai because of their political affiliation.

1992. State of R.I. v. Engo et al. “Friend of the court” brief challenging a state judge’s increase of bail for anti-abortion defendants, charged with obstructing a clinic, when they refused to provide their Social Security Numbers.

1992. Duke v. Connell. Successful federal lawsuit challenging the Secretary of State’s decision not to place Presidential primary contender David Duke on the ballot.

1992. Vote Choice v. DiStefano. Federal suit, brought on behalf of the Republican candidate for Governor, the Rhode Island Gun Owners PAC and a number of other groups, challenging various provisions of a new state campaign finance “reform” law.

1993. Pitochelli v. Town of Johnston. Successful federal lawsuit, on behalf of Republican town committee chairperson, against the Town of Johnston for failing to reapportion its city council and school committee districts since 1963.

1994. National Association of Social Workers, R.I. Chapter v. Harwood. Federal lawsuit, brought on behalf of the RI State Right to Life Committee, the RI State Rifle and Revolver Association and numerous other non-profit groups, in a challenge to a House of Representatives rule barring private, but not government, lobbyists from the floor of the House while it is in session.

1999. Moryl v. R.I. State Labor Relations Board. Representation of employees who sought to withdraw recognition of their union but were unable to get the state Labor Relations Board to schedule a decertification election.

1999. State v. Milette. “Friend of the court” brief in this criminal appeal arguing that a police officers’ reliance on the defendant’s “skinhead” appearance and the presence of Nazi literature in the back seat of the car could not serve as grounds for “probable cause” to search his car.

2001. Kessler v. City of Providence. Successful federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Providence police department “gag rule” barring police officers from speaking to the media without approval of the chief.

2002. R.I. Brotherhood of Correctional Officers v. R.I. Airport Corporation. Favorably settled federal lawsuit challenging the airport’s censorship of an advertisement by the correctional officers’ union opposing community corrections on the grounds that the ad was “political” and “negative.”

2002. Rowey v. Children’s Friend and Services. “Friend of the court” brief, filed on behalf of RI State Right to Life, urging R.I. Supreme Court review of a decision requiring a woman who gave up her child for adoption to reveal intimate information about herself to the adoptive family as part of the family’s “wrongful adoption” lawsuit against the adoption agency.

2004. Mosby v. McAteer. “Friend of the court” brief arguing that the state Constitution requires the Attorney General to provide applicants basic due process procedures in ruling on requests for concealed weapons permits.

2005. Bourgeois v. Town of North Smithfield. Administrative discrimination complaint filed on behalf of a man who, solely because of his sex, was denied a position as a girls’ junior high softball team coach.

2005. Laffey v. Begin. “Friend of the court” brief challenging a state Board of Elections’ ruling that the hosting of a conservative radio talk show by Cranston’s Mayor constituted an illegal campaign contribution under state election law.

2008. Lynch v. Lead Paint Industries. “Friend of the court” brief opposing the imposition of fines on the Attorney General for violating a “gag rule” issued in a civil court case he was prosecuting.

2010. Moderate Party v. Lynch. Lawsuit against a statute allowing residents to make a donation on their tax return to political parties through a “nonpartisan account,” but excluding new parties, like the Moderate Party, from the disbursement.

2012. Machado v. City of Cranston. Successful federal lawsuit challenging a police department’s actions in refusing to return lawfully possessed weapons seized from the plaintiff during an investigation that did not lead to the filing of any criminal charges.

2014 Defenders of Animals v. Sunderland. Favorably settled lawsuit challenging a town ordinance that barred “vicious dogs” from being housed within a mile of any school or day-care facility.

2017. Richer v. Parmalee. Successful federal lawsuit challenging a police department’s refusal over the course of six years to return lawfully owned firearms that were seized from the plaintiff without a warrant.

2018. Morgan v. Kilmartin. Favorably settled open records lawsuit on behalf of a Republican lawmaker seeking the release of thousands of pages of documents pertaining to the Democratic Attorney General’s expenditure of funds from a major class-action settlement.

2019. Narcisi v. Turtleboy Digital Marketing. Successful defense representation of a right-wing blogger who was ordered by a judge to remove from his website “any and all posts, blogs, and comments” regarding a person who had sued him for libel.

2020. Brady v. Tamburini. Successful federal lawsuit challenging the suspension of a Johnston detective after he publicly criticized the police department in his role as president of the police union.

2021. Caniglia v. Strom. Federal lawsuit that led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that Cranston police did not have authority, under a so-called “community caretaking” function, to seize the plaintiff’s lawfully owned firearms without a warrant.