Legislation

On June 13, Governor Chafee signed into law monumental legislation decriminalizing the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana, and imposing civil penalties instead of criminal charges against individuals in possession.

In March, the Affiliate testified before the Senate Health and Human Services committee in opposition to legislation sanctioning the creation of an electronic prescription monitoring database.

In March, the Affiliate testified before the House Health, Education and Welfare committee in favor of legislation to prevent the use of standardized tests as a barrier to graduation.

While tobacco use among teenagers is by no means to be encouraged, legislation mandating participation in a tobacco treatment program for any minor caught using or possessing tobacco products brought opposition from the ACLU and health groups, including anti-smoking advocacy groups.

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.

The legislative session brought a familiar bill allowing for the collection of DNA from any person arrested for a crime of violence, which included larceny offenses such as pickpocketing.

Three years’ worth of traffic stop data in Rhode Island demonstrated consistently that black and Hispanic drivers are twice as likely as whites to be stopped and searched by police, yet whites are more likely to be found with contraband when searched.

Casting aside the disappointing outcome of 2011’s marriage equality legislation, advocates returned this year with the marriage equality bill.