Civil Death (H 7466, S 2269)

Rhode Island remains one of only three states to still have on the books a statute declaring as "civilly dead" any person serving a life sentence. It's a provision so archaic the Harvard Law Review called it "outworn as a mode of punishment" all the way back in 1937.

Rhode Island remains one of only three states to still have on the books a statute declaring as "civilly dead" any person serving a life sentence. It's a provision so archaic the Harvard Law Review called it "outworn as a mode of punishment" all the way back in 1937. Yet, Rhode Island not only retains but uses the statute; in a recent case, the Department of Corrections sought to bar an inmate from bringing a civil rights suit over his living conditions at the ACI because, as he was civilly dead, he had no standing to sue. Legislation sought to repeal this outmoded statute. The ACLU strongly supported the repeal of this unnecessary and dangerous practice, but neither the House nor Senate Judiciary committee acted on the legislation.