Legislation

"Moral turpitude" is a legally ambiguous term that has caused considerable confusion in Rhode Island. Currently, this antiquated term can be found in several professional licensing statutes as a basis on which to deny or revoke a person's professional license.

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.

The General Assembly once again introduced several bills to expand the use of background checks in professions that rather than promote public safety, further push ex-offenders outside of a positive community atmosphere.

Between 2000 and 2017, the General Assembly created more than 170 new crimes, and increased prison sentences for dozens of existing offenses.

While state law restricts shackling pregnant prisoners during transport to a medical facility and during labor, a gap in the law allowed for shackling during transport to and from court.

Legislation introduced this year would have addressed the issuance of lengthy prison sentences against juveniles who are charged as adults.

These proposals would reclassify certain felonies into misdemeanors, reducing the collateral consequences for individuals convicted of those crimes, and would require the preparation of prison impact statements.