Legislation

The House and Senate approved legislation addressing the use of Internet filters on school computers.

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

As technology becomes more ubiquitous, schools have begun handing out school-owned computers for home use by students. These devices carry virtually no privacy protections and some schools have even informed children the computers are subject to monitoring any time, even while the child is at home.

This bill prohibits the searching of juveniles and pedestrians except when law enforcement has reasonable suspicion or probable cause of criminal activity, resumed data collection, and made certain agreements between law enforcement and immigration officials public.

Yet another problematic part of the Attorney General’s package of computer crimes legislation made it a crime to use “the name or persona of another person” to create a web page, send an e-mail or otherwise post on the internet without the person’s consent, including the name of elected officials.

In June, the Governor signed into law legislation expanding the availability of interpreters for court proceedings involving people who do not have the ability to understand or communicate effectively in English.

In June, the House passed legislation requiring health care providers to report alleged incidents of elder abuse to law enforcement, furthering a trend in recent years of the General Assembly approving legislation weakening the state’s health care confidentiality laws.

In June, the House passed legislation allowing the Department of Corrections to modify the terms of a person’s probation at any time, and for any reason.

In April, the ACLU testified before the House Health, Education and Welfare committee in support of legislation clarifying the ability of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe medication.