Legislation

In March, the Affiliate testified before the Senate Health and Human Services committee in opposition to legislation barring smoking in any motor vehicle carrying a child.

Until this year, an outdated and overly-broad section of Rhode Island law stated that transmitting any false information over the Internet was a misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 and up to one year in jail.

The General Assembly passed another ACLU-drafted free speech bill, this time ensuring citizens the right to criticize their elected officials in public newspapers.

The General Assembly again considered a number of bills to require the use of the E-Verify program before hiring any workers.

After years of negotiation between open government groups, law enforcement, and the Attorney General’s office, the General Assembly this year passed much-needed legislation strengthening the state’s open records law, known as APRA.

The General Assembly passed campaign finance legislation aimed at combatting so-called Super PACs, but which carried serious ramifications for small organizations, including non-profits, which engage in referenda campaigns or even publicly references legislators too close to an election.

In May, the Affiliate testified before the House and Senate Judiciary committees in opposition to legislation which would remove the requirement that legal notices be posted in a newspaper, and instead permit them to be posted on a website.

The General Assembly again took steps to protect the overuse of social security numbers, by prohibiting credit agencies from using an individual’s social security number as the sole means of verification matching a credit record to an inquiry by a merchant.

In April, the House Corporations committee heard legislation sanctioning the installation of cameras on police cruisers to continuously scan every license plate on the street.