Legislation

We opposed legislation which would have subjected an individual convicted of an animal cruelty offense to a lifetime ban on owning or exercising control over animals.

In a move that would have further prevented parents and guardians from meaningfully engaging in their student’s schooling if the parent or guardian has a criminal record, this bill would have required a federal background check before any person could volunteer or intern at a school in RI.

As the passage of legislation legalizing recreational marijuana becomes more likely in Rhode Island, it is just as critical that expansive social justice measures accompany the legalization process. One such measure would be providing for the expungement of marijuana offenses from criminal records.

“Moral Turpitude” is a legally ambiguous and antiquated term that could be found in several professional licensing statutes as a basis on which to deny or revoke a person’s professional license. We testified in support of this legislation to eliminate the phrase from those statutes.

While addressing the important problem of lengthy prison sentences for juveniles who are charged as adults, a weakened version of this policy ultimately passed within the FY 2022 budget.

We strongly supported legislation which would make two important advances towards enhanced criminal justice policy in Rhode Island.

For individuals in RI on green cards, a conviction of many misdemeanor charges can have a severe and overly punishing – and unexpected – impact. This legislation would have decreased the maximum possible misdemeanor by one day to ensure that such harsh consequences don’t flow from a minor offense.

This important legislation would have provided individuals protection from prosecution for certain drug crimes if they had contacted police to address any medical emergency, not just a drug overdose.

We opposed legislation that would impose a $300 “substance abuse education fee” for any conviction of driving under the influence or for a violation of refusal to submit to a breathalyzer.