Legislation

The House passed a resolution, sponsored by Representative Daniel Gordon, calling upon Congress to repeal sections of the National Defense Authorization Act which sanction the indefinite detention without charge or trial of anyone in the United States.

The General Assembly passed landmark legislation to protect people from employment, housing, and voting discrimination, among others, solely because of their homeless status.

Paradoxically, while Rhode Island continues to deny same-sex couples the right to marry, the state also prevents couples legally married in other states from divorcing.

In a stunning response to the Woonsocket cross controversy, the General Assembly overwhelmingly approved legislation creating a permanent commission to determine whether any memorial in the state of Rhode Island is religious or secular.

As cell phone technology has advanced and smartphones have become ubiquitous, the devices we carry on a daily basis have begun to contain substantial amounts of personal information, including e-mails, photos, and records of where we’ve been traveling.

The House and Senate Judiciary committees considered legislation to drastically Rhode Island’s computer crimes laws by altering the definitions of old laws and creating new offenses.

On June 4th, Governor Chafee signed into law legislation raising value of a stolen object necessary for a felony charge from $500 to $1500.

Despite Affiliate testimony in opposition, the General Assembly approved a bill to severely limit the ability of certain inmates to accrue “good time” reductions of their sentences.

The Affiliate testified against a number of bills seeking to require the use of ignition interlock devices by any person convicted of DUIs, failure to submit to a chemical test, and other crimes – even if the driver was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of their infraction.