Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of RI v. Tavares

In response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU this past December, state General Treasurer Frank Caprio has promulgated revised crime victim compensation regulations that will take effect this week. The revised rules better protect the rights of violent crime victims by repealing provisions adopted by former General Treasurer Paul Tavares that authorized the denial or reduction of compensation to victims based solely on their having an unrelated drug-related criminal history or DUI conviction in their past. As a result of the changes, the ACLU indicated it will be dismissing its lawsuit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Frederic Marzilli, challenging those provisions on behalf of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island (DATA). DATA and other organizations – including the R.I. Medical Society, the R.I. Council of Community Mental Health Organizations and the R.I. Disability Law Center – had sharply criticized the regulations as “discriminatory and mean-spirited” by singling out offenses often committed by people who are suffering from diseases – alcoholism and drug addiction.

In an effort to protect the rights of violent crime victims, the ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of regulations adopted by outgoing General Treasurer Paul Tavares that authorize the denial or reduction of compensation to such victims based solely on their having an unrelated drug-related criminal history or DUI conviction in their past. The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Frederic Marzilli, is on behalf of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of Rhode Island (DATA). In July, DATA and other organizations that service people with substance abuse problems had sharply criticized the regulations as “discriminatory and mean-spirited.”