Legislation

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.

A prime example of how quickly legislation can go from good to bad came in the form of legislation, passed by the Senate in June, that purported to strengthen the state’s laws against human trafficking, but in fact undermined the law entirely.

Rhode Island law generally makes larceny a felony if the item stolen is worth $1,500 or more, but legislation passed by both the House and the Senate drastically undercuts this limit, allowing for larceny of farm products to be considered a felony if the farm product is worth just $250.

The state’s medical marijuana program suffered a huge setback when, in June, the House and Senate passed Attorney General legislation promoting discrimination and harassment of marijuana cardholders without cause.

The General Assembly is also considered a variety of legislation aimed at firearms possession and use, including a number of bills imposing mandatory sentences.

The House approved recurring legislation imposing additional penalties – up to an extra ten years – on individuals who participate in crimes if they are deemed to do so as part of a vaguely defined “criminal street gang".

Legislation was considered to overhaul the state’s prohibition on cyberstalking and cyberharassment. However, under this new legislation, one act online that is used by others to justify harassment would be criminal, whether or not the individual was aware of harassment that subsequently took place.