Legislation

A new law, promoted by the ACLU, will limit the phone call charges that can be imposed on inmates.

The ACLU, the R.I. Disability Law Center and the R.I. Council of Community Mental Health Organizations helped persuade the Governor to veto a bill that would have allowed the Mental Health Advocate to petition the court to involuntarily transfer inmates from the ACI to the custody of MHRH.

In a civil liberties defeat, the General Assembly passed a bill significantly expanding the number of sex offenders whose names and photos will be posted on a state web site for public viewing.

In another unfortunate civil liberties loss, the House defeated a bill that would have required police to record most interrogations of suspects charged with capital offenses.

The Senate took no action on a bill approved by the House that would have doubled the criminal penalties for various drug crimes if committed within 300 yards of a public college or university.

Two bills promoted by the Affiliate in response to the government’s continuing “war on terrorism” died in committee.

The Affiliate achieved its first legislative victory of the session back in February, when the Governor withdrew his extremely dangerous “homeland security” bill just days after he had proposed it.

In one of the Affiliate’s most significant losses of the year, the General Assembly approved legislation requiring the taking of DNA samples from any person convicted of any felony.