Court Cases

This is an emergency lawsuit filed by the ACLU and ACLU of RI this morning in federal court to prevent the removal of a Venezuelan national from the country under President Trump’s recent proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act (AEA)

This case was filed against Governor Daniel McKee on behalf of activists who were intentionally denied access to the State House for a rally and threatened with arrest prior to the annual gubernatorial State of the State address in January.

This "friend of the court" brief was submitted to challenge the RI Attorney General's position that state officials are immune from ever being sued in federal court under one of RI’s key anti-discrimination civil rights statutes.

This "friend of the court" brief was filed to support a challenge to a federal law that completely bars unlawful users of controlled substances – including medical marijuana, which, though legal in Rhode Island, remains illegal at the federal level – from possessing firearms.

This is a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of MA and other partners in federal court to challenge the widespread denial of bond hearings to people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The result of this lawsuit may affect Rhode Islanders. The denial of bond hearings is a violation of statutory and constitutional rights, upending decades of settled law and established practice in immigration proceedings. For more information, please visit the ACLU of MA's website, or contact them at [email protected].

The brief was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in support of Jerry Cintron, whose lawsuit alleges that while suffering from substance use disorder, he was given no treatment despite his requests for it. Instead, he was kept in disciplinary segregation for over one year.

ACLU of RI cooperating attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against the Warwick City Council for stifling the free speech rights of a local resident who was barred from speaking at a Council meeting about allegations of ethical misconduct aimed at one of its members.

This lawsuit was filed on behalf of three Native Americans at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI), and argues that Rhode Island Department of Corrections has refused to accommodate an array of religious practices.