Legislation

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.

The Affiliate successfully opposed a bill that sought to expand the definition of criminal “harassment” to include not just unwanted direct contact, but also the posting of information on Web sites about people.

The ACLU also successfully objected when a completely revised “welfare reform” provision in the proposed 2009 budget authorized the Department of Human Services to apply for federal funding for so-called “healthy marriage” programs.

Despite the state’s difficult fiscal times, the legislature approved a bill that will require public school districts to continue providing certain taxpayer-funded services to students with disabilities in parochial schools.

The APA, an important law requiring state agencies to provide public notice and seek input on proposed regulations, took a beating this year.

Designed to strengthen the franchise in Rhode Island, the legislation would overturn restrictive Board of Elections’ policies that substantially limit the counting of provisional ballots and restrict the rights of candidates to view disputed ballots during recounts of close elections.

For the first time in ten years, the General Assembly approved comprehensive legislation to strengthen the state’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA).