Legislation

This bill would have criminalized caretakers from “isolating elders” while inappropriately included such actions as throwing away their junk mail or screening their phone calls for telemarketers.

This legislation would have removed the term "moral turpitude" from several professional licensing statutes, which would ensure that no one is denied entry to a profession due to this hopelessly vague term.

This legislation would exclude buprenorphine from the list of controlled substances for which possession can result in such penalties, ensuring that substance use disorders are treated by rehabilitative and supportive measures rather than as issues of criminal justice.

This legislation would repeal an outmoded statute which declares any person serving a life sentence in prison "civilly dead."

Often, seemingly innocuous licensing bills have provisions including expansive and vague language which could render individuals with a criminal background, no matter what crimes they have been convicted of or how long ago their conviction was, unable to procure certain occupational licenses.

Though the ACLU recognizes the importance of substance abuse education, this proposed article in the FY 2021 budget would fund such programs by implementing a hefty financial penalty on those convicted of either a DUI or refusal to submit to a breathalyzer to fund those programs.

Despite housing instability being a major contributor to recidivism, this bill would problematically allow any innkeeper or hotel to forcibly remove a level III sex offender from their premises if the sex offender resides there for thirty days or more.

This provision in the FY 2021 budget would implement a procedure for geriatric parole in Rhode Island.

Two bills introduced this session would provide avenues for expungement of certain offenses related to drug possession and would ensure rehabilitation and community reintegration following an individual’s involvement with the criminal justice system.