Legislation

Responding to ACLU free speech concerns, the legislature significantly amended a bill to ban “video voyeurism” before approving it.

In the waning hours of the session, the legislature approved an important ACLU bill designed to address privacy concerns raised by the state’s new barcoded drivers’ licenses.

The legislature took no action on a bill introduced late in the session to allow cities and towns to use “red light cameras.”

Despite strong lobbying efforts by a local patients’ advocacy group, the General Assembly took no action this year on medical marijuana legislation.

The legislature passed an ACLU bill that removes from a variety of professional licensing statutes an archaic requirement that licensees be “free from contagious disease.”

The ACLU helped galvanize opposition to a bill that would have allowed police agencies to give lie detector tests to job applicants.

The General Assembly approved an ACLU bill to protect the confidentiality of student school records to the same extent they are protected by federal law.

As the result of objections from the ACLU and the efforts of Rep. Edith Ajello, the legislature significantly revised a bill that would have denied drivers’ licenses to students who miss a specified number of days at school.

In agreeing to put the question of a West Warwick casino on the ballot, the General Assembly also approved a 50-page bill establishing a comprehensive regulatory scheme for casino establishments.