Court Cases

The R.I. Center for Justice and cooperating counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of RI have filed a lawsuit on behalf of four low-income tenants in Pawtucket and West Warwick who have been threatened with eviction for associating with Reclaim RI, a non-profit agency that organizes tenants to vindicate their rights to safe and healthy housing conditions. In October 2025, the case was brought to RI Superior Court and an amended complaint was filed.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and The Lawyering Project, a national organization that works to improve access to reproductive health care, filed a “friend of the court” brief today that shares stories of three people who experienced a loss of a loved one due to preventable pregnancy complications, in support of a lawsuit challenging the proposed dismantling of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Division of Reproductive Health (DRH). The brief, also filed on behalf of four organizations that seek to address maternal and infant mortality and improve maternal outcomes, illustrates through personal stories the critical need for federal systems that work to prevent maternal deaths.

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 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.