Legislation

This legislation would repeal an outmoded statute which declares any person serving a life sentence in prison "civilly dead."

This bill would positively prevent landlords from inquiring about the immigration status of their tenants or potential tenants.

Often, seemingly innocuous licensing bills have provisions including expansive and vague language which could render individuals with a criminal background, no matter what crimes they have been convicted of or how long ago their conviction was, unable to procure certain occupational licenses.

We opposed a provison within the proposed FY 2021 budget which would expand the tax credit program for businesses that make donations to “scholarship organizations” which funnel money to private and parochial schools for tuition purposes.

The distribution or display of constitutionally protected conduct cannot be elevated to a criminal offense solely because of how the person viewing it reacts, yet this bill would unconstitutionally punish individuals based on a prediction of how they respond to certain types of protected speech.

This bill would require that all newly constructed single-user public bathroom facilities be gender neutral, and thus allow all Rhode Islanders to access bathrooms in a non-stigmatizing manner.

Though the ACLU recognizes the importance of substance abuse education, this proposed article in the FY 2021 budget would fund such programs by implementing a hefty financial penalty on those convicted of either a DUI or refusal to submit to a breathalyzer to fund those programs.