Legislation

The ACLU of Rhode Island supports this bill, which would helpfully amend the law enacted in 2021 designed to allow immigrant students to qualify for resident tuition at the state’s public universities, colleges, and community colleges.

The administration of justice depends on all people having free and full access to the courts, and the promise of equal justice cannot be delivered if a segment of the community is afraid to access the courts.

As an important piece of criminal justice reform legislation, this bill would slightly redefine in two ways the definitions of “felony” and “misdemeanor” in Rhode Island law.

We supported the repeal of the exemption of domestic workers from the state's minimum wage laws, noting that its impact is sexist, racially discriminatory, and limiting of the economic mobility of domestic workers.

We supported these bills which would prevent landlords from inquiring about the immigration status of their tenants or potential tenants, noting that this legislation is critical for ensuring that families with undocumented members can maintain housing without fear.

We strongly supported a bill which would have prohibited, absent a judicially authorized civil or criminal arrest warrant, the civil arrest of any person who is attending court either on behalf of themselves or a family or household member.

We supported legislation which would have required public bodies to establish a plan for providing translation services at public meetings, ensuring that access to these meetings is not inhibited because an individual does not fluently speak the language that the meeting is conducted in.