Legislation

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.

Under current state law, sex offenders are classified based on a variety of factors and risk assessment evaluations. This bill would classify the offender’s risk based solely on the offense for which he or she was convicted.

In April, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from numerous organizations and professionals regarding legislation that seeks to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to what states like Colorado have done.

For the second year in a row, legislation has been proposed to set up the framework to ensure that the use of body cameras among police agencies in Rhode Island properly safeguards the integrity of encounters between law enforcement and civilians.

Several bills were heard in the Senate and House Judiciary Committee related to sex offenders in efforts to once again limit the rights and discriminate against this group of offenders, making it much harder for them to reintegrate into society.