Legislation

We opposed a provision in a bill addressing disability benefits based on occupationally-related PTSD for first responders, noting that it could allow police officers to recoup disability benefits if they alleged to suffer from PTSD from misconduct that they have themselves inflicted on a civilian.

We supported legislation which would have barred private prisons from operating in the state of Rhode Island entirely and limited the ability for carceral facilities in Rhode Island to cooperate with ICE.

We supported legislation that would have both renewed the data collection provisions and annual report requirements of the CCPRA and imposed more stringent requirements on the collection and analysis of the data.

We supported legislation that would have restricted use of force by police and put in place reporting requirements for officers who witness use of force.

Following the 2021 implementation of a statewide infrastructure for a body-worn camera (BWC) program, we supported legislation which would have put in place statutory policies regarding BWCs.

We strongly opposed a bill which would have banned terms like “racial guilt” in the classroom, barred the use of school books that have a "viewpoint," and required school staff to address students by “the pronouns associated with their biological gender.”

We strongly supported a piece of legislation which would have expanded the definition of race under our state anti-discrimination laws to include “traits historically associated with race,” importantly including hair texture and protective hairstyles.

At a meeting of a state legislative commission designed to examine the impact of the criminalization of sex work, we testified in favor of decriminalization of these offenses and provided a number of other policy recommendations on the topic.

We supported this resolution which would have expressed state solidarity in the campaign for D.C. statehood, noting that it is in line with basic tenets of civil rights, equity, and democratic representation.