Legislation

Under current state law, sex offenders are classified based on a variety of factors and risk assessment evaluations. This bill would classify the offender’s risk based solely on the offense for which he or she was convicted.

In April, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from numerous organizations and professionals regarding legislation that seeks to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to what states like Colorado have done.

For the second year in a row, legislation has been proposed to set up the framework to ensure that the use of body cameras among police agencies in Rhode Island properly safeguards the integrity of encounters between law enforcement and civilians.

Several bills were heard in the Senate and House Judiciary Committee related to sex offenders in efforts to once again limit the rights and discriminate against this group of offenders, making it much harder for them to reintegrate into society.

This legislation would protect individuals from being prosecuted when they seek medical assistance for someone experiencing an alcohol overdose and alcohol use by minors.

As part of a package of computer crimes legislation put forward by the Attorney General's office, whistleblowers would be treated the same as malicious hackers, subjecting them to felony penalties for gaining "unauthorized access" to a computer.

Every year numerous bills are introduced into the General Assembly that seek to expand the use of background checks in professions and or volunteering opportunities that rather than promote public safety, further push ex-offenders outside of a positive community atmosphere.

Under the proposed legislation, juveniles who are sentenced as adults would automatically come before the parole board after fifteen years, regardless of the length of their sentence, giving these young adults the chance to prove their fitness to return to society.

After a great deal of political maneuvering, the General Assembly passed a package of bills aimed at improving the criminal justice system.