Legislation

Under current RI law, DNA can only be collected from individuals convicted of certain felonies; the ACLU testified that collecting from individuals who have merely been arrested undermined the presumption of innocence and was a dangerous step towards the creation of a comprehensive DNA database.

This legislation would have allowed the state of Rhode Island to produce and sell marijuana for recreational consumption, and authorized the state to set specific and enforceable limits on access to marijuana and funneling money from its sale to substance abuse treatment programs.

As cell phone technology has advanced and smartphones have become ubiquitous, the devices we carry on a daily basis have begun to contain substantial amounts of personal information, including e-mails, photos, and records of where we’ve been traveling.

The House and Senate Judiciary committees considered legislation to drastically Rhode Island’s computer crimes laws by altering the definitions of old laws and creating new offenses.

On June 4th, Governor Chafee signed into law legislation raising value of a stolen object necessary for a felony charge from $500 to $1500.

Despite Affiliate testimony in opposition, the General Assembly approved a bill to severely limit the ability of certain inmates to accrue “good time” reductions of their sentences.

The Affiliate testified against a number of bills seeking to require the use of ignition interlock devices by any person convicted of DUIs, failure to submit to a chemical test, and other crimes – even if the driver was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of their infraction.

The ACLU testified before the House and Senate Judiciary committees in March in opposition to legislation which would remove the “sunset” provision on the primary seat belt law, rendering it permanent.

ACLU-drafted legislation removing the phrase “moral turpitude” from state licensing statutes was heard in March by the Senate Health and Human Services committee.