Legislation

Possibly the worst result of the legislative session was the expiration of the state’s life-saving Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Act.

In April, the ACLU testified before the House Judiciary committee in support of legislation to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana use by adults.

This bill prohibits the searching of juveniles and pedestrians except when law enforcement has reasonable suspicion or probable cause of criminal activity, resumed data collection, and made certain agreements between law enforcement and immigration officials public.

In April, the ACLU testified before the House Health, Education and Welfare committee in support of legislation clarifying the ability of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe medication.

In June, the House approved legislation prohibiting any person convicted of a sex offense with a minor from holding employment in a wide range of jobs, even if that job never involved interaction with a child.

In June, the House approved legislation overhauling the state’s sex offender registration and community notification laws, replacing them with federal standards so costly that few states have chosen to implement them.

A set of bills dealing with the state’s littering laws will result in thousands of dollars of fines for Rhode Islanders, and thousands of dollars in proceeds for local law enforcement.

Another part of the Attorney General’s package of legislation dealing with computer crimes carried still more concerns about the breadth of these changes.

While undermining the medical marijuana program, the General Assembly failed to make productive changes in the state’s “War on Drugs” by expanding the state’s Good Samaritan Act.