Legislation

This bill would create an entirely new power for the Office of Civil Rights Advocate within the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office which would allow for this office to summon any person who may have information about potentially unlawful activities and compel them to disclose their knowledge.

This bill would have prohibited the questioning of a juvenile suspected of criminal activity without a parent or legal guardian present.

Opposed by the ACLU, this legislation would allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) to attest to a patient’s mental health condition and participate in certifying patients for mandated outpatient treatment, an action which is presently something that only doctors can do.

Each legislative session, dozens of bills are introduced, and a number of them passed, which counteract the important work of criminal justice reform, as these new crimes and increased sentences are often arbitrary and almost always unnecessary.