News & Commentary

Although the Foxy Lady has been providing adult entertainment in Providence for decades, it had never been called before the Providence Board of Licenses until this month, after a police sting there resulted in three women being charged with the misdemeanor offense of soliciting for prostitution. The Board, rather than commend the club for its longstanding record of compliance with the licensing laws, instead took the extraordinary step of permanently revoking the Foxy Lady’s entertainment and liquor licenses, throwing more than 200 people out of work just a week before Christmas.

Despite legislation enacted in 2017 aimed at promoting criminal justice reform, the Rhode Island General Assembly’s 2018 session took significant steps back from a “smart justice” approach by adding more than a dozen new felonies to the books and increasing sentences for several other crimes.

Eight state-based and national advocacy organizations – including the ACLU of RI, the NAACP Providence Branch, the National Employment Law Center, and JustLeadershipUSA – have sharply criticized the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH) for a “disturbing trend” of “undermining a major goal of criminal justice reform by increasing the barriers for people with past criminal records or substance use disorders to obtain professional licensing.” The five-page letter to DOH Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott highlights several recent Department rule enactments or re-adoptions that the groups say unfairly allow for the disqualification of people with any criminal record from obtaining professional licenses in a number of fields – ranging from EMTs to midwives to physical therapy assistants.

The ACLU of RI today announced the settlement of a lawsuit that will ensure that no shelter operating on State property is required to turn away vulnerable homeless Rhode Islanders seeking shelter even though beds are available.  The settlement reached today ended a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by ACLU of RI volunteer attorneys Lynette Labinger and John MacDonald challenging a state law, slated to take effect last January and specifically aimed at Harrington Hall in Cranston, which limited the number of registered sex offenders that could stay there to 10% of the shelter’s population, which amounts to 11 people.

UPDATE, 3/12/19: The Central Falls City Council voted unanimously to repeal the ordinance.

For the second time in a year, the ACLU of RI is suing the Pawtucket Police Department for violating their obligations under the state’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA).  Doubling down on their efforts to infringe upon the public’s right to know, the Department has again denied an APRA request for copies of final reports of investigations of alleged police misconduct generated by its Internal Affairs Division (IAD).  The denial comes despite a pending ACLU lawsuit against the Department on virtually identical grounds and despite past RI Supreme Court rulings supporting the public’s access to these types of records.

The ACLU of RI  issued the following statement today on yesterday’s arrest of convicted sex offender Richard Gardner, whose residence in Providence has been the subject of protests and political grandstanding since his release from prison last month:

When Richard Gardner, a convicted child sex offender, was released from prison after serving almost 30 years, he quietly moved into the Washington Park neighborhood in Providence. One would not have expected a welcome wagon — but an angry mob should not have been the result either.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a North Smithfield resident, challenging the police department’s refusal to remove from its files a note falsely claiming that he is “dangerous,” “psychologically unstable,” and has numerous weapons at his house. Police officials have acknowledged that they have no basis for the claims contained in the note, which was uncovered while the ACLU was litigating another pending lawsuit on behalf of the resident, Jason Richer.