Legislation

A bill from the Attorney General’s office has again been introduced and heard this year that would set enhanced and mandatory sentences for “criminal street gang” activity.

Despite ACLU opposition, both the House and Senate have passed a bill authorizing Woonsocket schools to require students to wear school uniforms.

We testified against a bill that aims to set up a government-appointed council to “provide oversight” of private youth sports organizations, including the power to impose fines against coaches, players, parents or officials in response to complaints arising from youth sporting events.

The General Assembly continues to push for harsher penalties around drunk driving in general, but the ACLU was particularly troubled by the punitive nature of bills, part of a package from the City of Providence, addressing underage drinking.

ACLU efforts prevailed in removing language from an “anti-bullying” bill that would have turned name-calling between students into an offense that could lead to the filing of a “wayward/delinquent” petition, Family Court jurisdiction and a potential sentence to the Training School.

Budget articles passed by the legislature took some positive steps in addressing the continued overcrowding problem at the R.I. Training School.

The ACLU and children’s rights advocates were shocked when the House Finance Committee passed out a budget that retained a proposal from the Governor and DCYF to treat all 17 year olds as adults for criminal purposes.

In response to a tragic incident where a teenager was killed in a drag race, the General Assembly approved an Attorney General bill that sets steep criminal penalties for this practice.

The General Assembly overwhelmingly approved an ACLU bill to require schools to take a caseby- case approach in determining the appropriate discipline for students charged with drug, alcohol or weapons violations.