Legislation

Although no vote was taken in committee this year, support for same-sex marriage legislation continued to grow.

On a related front, a bill providing for death benefits to the domestic partners of police officers or firefighters who die in the line of duty appears close to passage.

The legislature enacted an ACLU proposed bill imposing penalties on any employer who videotapes employees in a restroom, locker room, or room designated by an employer for changing clothes.

The General Assembly approved legislation barring residency requirements for municipal employees.

In a major victory for civil rights, the General Assembly approved sending to the voters in November 2006 a proposed constitutional amendment to restore the right to vote to felons upon release from incarceration.

ACLU intervention helped kill a bill that would have authorized the Town of Westerly to allow non-resident property owners to vote in certain town elections and serve on the Town’s finance board.

The General Assembly approved an ACLU bill setting standards for police interrogation of students in public schools.

The Senate took no action on a House-passed bill to give school districts the power to disenroll any student they deemed to be a “habitual truant” if the school claimed it could not reach the child’s parents.