Who We Are

Founded in 1959, the ACLU of Rhode Island is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to upholding and protecting the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Technically speaking, the ACLU of RI is comprised of two separate corporate entities: the ACLU of Rhode Island and the ACLU Foundation of Rhode Island. Learn more about this distinction.

The ACLU of RI is part of the American Civil Liberties Union, a federated organization of roughly 1,500,000 members and more than fifty affiliates and chapters nationwide.

What We Do

The ACLU of RI performs its work in three major ways: litigation, legislation and public education. The cases that we take, the bills we lobby on, and our varied public education efforts are designed to help preserve and protect the civil liberties of all Rhode Islanders against government infringement.

Click here for answers to some commonly asked questions about our work and mission.