Legislation

In April, the Senate for the second year in a row approved legislation barring health insurance companies from using gender as a factor in setting premiums.

We supported legislation that aimed to reinstate the policy in place under a First Circuit decision by requiring law enforcement to have reasonable suspicion prior to performing a strip search of misdemeanant arrestees, and a warrant based on probable cause before conducting a body cavity search.

Legislation hoped to clarify the acceptable use of ALPR technology, including for locating missing persons and identifying vehicles belonging to individuals with outstanding felony warrants, and place limits on the retention of data collected by ALPRs.

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.