Legislation

Back for a third time was an ACLU-drafted bill requiring law enforcement obtain a warrant prior to conducting a search of any cell phone.

ACLU-drafted legislation will protect users’ private social media profiles from undue intrusion by barring schools and employers from requesting or requiring students’, employees’ or applicants’ social media passwords, or otherwise gaining access to their private social media accounts.

Over the past several years, the General Assembly has passed a number of new laws requiring nationwide criminal background checks be conducted on employees and volunteers across a wide spectrum of job titles, and this year was no exception.

One of the more passionate civil liberties discussions to arise in recent months has been around the issue of high-stakes testing, or the use of the NECAP exam as a zero-sum graduation requirement.

ACLU-drafted legislation aimed to address the use of Internet filters on school computers.

Even as a consensus grows nationwide that out-of-school suspensions bear a lifetime of effects and should be used for only the most serious offenses, Rhode Island’s students are routinely suspended from school for small infractions that pose no risk of harm serious distraction to their peers.

In April, the ACLU testified in support of comprehensive election reform legislation. This perennial legislation proposed a number of critical amendments to current election practices, including expanding the number of provisional ballots counted and the procedures for recounts.

Following years of inaction, the Senate in May passed legislation addressing the problem of prison-based gerrymandering.

In February, the ACLU testified before the House and Senate Judiciary committees in support of legislation restricting the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, by law enforcement.